ENSESO4Food

10/06/2026

“Ask for more information.”

Beginning October 28, 2026, South Carolina food-service establishments that serve foreign-imported shrimp must place a prescribed disclosure on their menus and at their main entrances.

The statute distinguishes between restaurants serving both domestic and imported shrimp and those serving only imported shrimp. After an initial warning and three-day correction period, repeat violations can bring civil fines of $100 to $5,000 for each day of noncompliance.

The law passed the South Carolina House without a dissenting vote during each recorded House vote and was signed by the Governor on June 30.

This is not the same as FDA’s FSMA 204 Food Traceability Rule, but both reflect a broad and growing demand for reliable information about the source of our food.

The phrase “Ask for more information” also raises a practical question: Can the restaurant—and every business behind it—reliably provide that information?

A disclosure is only as trustworthy as the sourcing records supporting it. Those records must travel from the fisherman or farm through processors, distributors, and ultimately to the business serving the consumer.

That is the purpose behind ENSESO4Food’s “Know Your Food” campaign and the TRAKKEY platform: help food businesses capture and share trustworthy sourcing and traceability information without making recordkeeping more complicated than the work itself.

Consumers want transparency. Producers want honest representation. Regulators want accountability. The common requirement is traceability.

Read South Carolina Act 254 https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/4248.htm

10/01/2026

October is Farm to School Month which celebrates the connection between students, their food and the people who produce it. I would like to suggest adding another important question to that conversation:

Can parents and students learn where their school food came from and how it reached the lunchbox?

The recent Cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce shows why that question matters. Nearly 13,000 people across 21 states became ill. During an outbreak, families need clear answers: Was this food served at my child’s school? Where did it come from? Which specific deliveries were affected?

Traceability can provide those answers, but its value extends beyond emergencies. Shared information can help farmers, food hubs and schools coordinate availability, processing, purchasing, deliveries and menu planning. It can also give students a tangible connection to the farms and people behind their meals.

A recent GS1 US Farm to Lunchbox case study shows how this can work. Cragmoor Farms, Feed & Seed and Spartanburg County School District Six created a digitally connected local supply chain from harvest through processing and delivery to school cafeterias. https://www.gs1us.org/industries-and-insights/case-studies/farm-to-lunchbox-case-study

09/15/2026

A Sign Can Disclose. Traceability Can Verify.

South Carolina’s new shrimp disclosure law requires restaurants serving imported shrimp to tell their customers—and invites those customers to ask where their shrimp came from.

But can every business in the supply chain provide a reliable answer?

This law is separate from FSMA 204, but the message is consistent: consumers, producers, businesses, and regulators all need trustworthy information about food sources.

That is why ENSESO4Food created “Know Your Food” and built TRAKKEY—to help reliable sourcing information follow food from its origin to the customer.

See the South Carolina Department of Agriculture summaryhttps://agriculture.sc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/RFEShrimpDisclaimerLaw2026.pdf

09/11/2026

Where was your shrimp caught—and can the food system prove it?

South Carolina’s new shrimp disclosure law recognizes the consumer’s right to know. TRAKKEY helps the sourcing information follow seafood from the ocean to the dock and through every business serving the customer.

Watch the journey. Know your food.

09/11/2026

People should be able to know where their food comes from.

South Carolina’s new shrimp disclosure law recognizes that expectation by requiring restaurants to tell customers when they serve imported shrimp.

This is important for consumers—and for the fishermen and seafood businesses whose locally caught products deserve to be represented accurately.

But a sign or menu disclosure is only the final step. Reliable information must follow the shrimp from where it was caught, to the dock, through the wholesaler, and ultimately to the grocery store or restaurant.

That is the connection I see between South Carolina’s law, seafood traceability, and FDA’s FSMA 204 rule. They are different requirements, but they reflect a common demand for trustworthy information about the source and movement of our food.

Consumers have a right to know. Traceability gives the food system the ability to answer.

09/08/2026

People want to know where their food really comes from.

South Carolina’s new law requiring restaurants to disclose when they serve imported shrimp is another sign of a much broader community of interest around food sourcing. Consumers want honest information. Local producers want their products represented accurately. Regulators want food to be traceable when a safety problem occurs.

The South Carolina law and FDA’s FSMA 204 Food Traceability Rule serve different purposes, but they point to the same underlying need: reliable information must follow food through the supply chain.

That information should not be difficult for a restaurant to obtain—or burdensome for a fisherman, farmer, packer, processor, or distributor to provide. Good technology can capture sourcing and traceability records during normal business activity and make the information useful to every participant.

That is why ENSESO4Food created our “Know Your Food” campaign and why we built TRAKKEY: to help food businesses establish a trustworthy digital connection between food and its source.

Food transparency is no longer the interest of one group. It matters to consumers, producers, buyers, regulators, and entire communities whose livelihoods depend on food being represented accurately.

Read the Live 5 News article https://www.live5news.com/2026/07/16/new-south-carolina-law-requires-restaurants-disclose-imported-shrimp/

A new South Carolina law aimed at increasing transparency in the seafood industry will require restaurants to disclose when foreign-imported shrimp is being served, following last year’s high-profile “Shrimp Gate” controversy.

06/15/2026

Food traceability is rapidly becoming a business requirement for companies exporting food products to the United States.

ENSESO4Food is pleased to support our partner Primabis and CANACINTRA Estado de México in an upcoming Spanish-language webinar focused on FSMA 204, digital traceability, and next-generation QR codes.

June 25, 2026
10:00 AM (CDMX)
Virtual Event
No Cost Registration

https://link.msgsndr.com/sp/9dfa7d6ef6e

Topics include:• Understanding FSMA 204 and its impact on exporters to the U.S.• Digital traceability strategies for food companies• Preparing for retailer, importer, and regulatory expectations• Leveraging modern QR codes and supply chain visibility tools• Practical approaches to implementation without disrupting operations

Whether your organization grows, packs, processes, imports, exports, or distributes food products, now is the time to prepare for increasing traceability requirements across global supply chains.

Thank you to Primabis and CANACINTRA Estado de México for bringing together industry leaders to discuss the future of food traceability.

03/31/2026

Calling growers in the Upstate Region of SC. https://link.msgsndr.com/sp/f77623cef38
Join Us in Greenville, SC for Our Wholesale Readiness Workshop! --> 4/1/2026

Selling to Schools & Wholesale Buyers

April 1, 2026 | 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM

Location: Feed & Seed Co., 701 Easley Bridge Rd, Suite 6010, Greenville, SC 29611