What does the FDA require of a single company with multiple modes of transportation?

• A. When trucks and planes are owned by the same company, the FDA requires the company to keep records of when the food was put on each vehicle and who was responsible for the food during each leg of the trip.
• B. Each mode must maintain its own separate log.
• C. The FDA requires only the final destination to be recorded.
• D. The FDA requires all parties to share a single record.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is traceability in food transport: when a single company uses more than one mode of transport, the FDA’s recordkeeping expectation focuses on identifying where the product ultimately ends up. Recording only the final destination provides a clear, actionable endpoint for recalls and investigations, without forcing duplicative logs for every leg of the journey. Since one company controls all legs in this scenario, a single record pointing to the final destination is sufficient to trace the product through the supply chain and protect public health.

Other options introduce unnecessary complexity. Maintaining separate logs for each transport mode adds work and potential gaps when the same company handles all legs. Requiring all parties to share one record isn’t needed here because the scenario involves a single company coordinating multiple modes, so a unified final destination record already serves the traceability purpose.