The FDA's FSMA Rule 204 requires food companies to track lots, locations, and dates across the supply chain, then hand those records to the FDA within 24 hours if asked. The compliance deadline is July 20, 2028. That sounds far away. It is not.
If you ship fresh produce, meat, poultry, dairy, or nuts, this rule applies to you. And your EDI 856 Ship Notice is the most practical way to meet it. No new transaction. No new trading channel. Just a lot of new fields you probably are not sending today.
Walmart Already Moved
Walmart updated its Perishable 856 spec in November 2024 to add FSMA requirements, then extended them in July 2025 to fully match the regulation. Their message to suppliers is blunt: incomplete or inaccurate ASNs are "not useful to Walmart," and they are tracking metrics on it.
Here is what Walmart now requires for FSMA items:
- Lot number in LIN with qualifier LT. The thing on the label. Must match.
- SSCC-18 in MAN with qualifier GM. Required at pallet or pack level.
- Manufacturing plant in the N1/MP loop. Use an FDA Food Facility Registration Number with the FR qualifier if you have one. It is the cleanest option.
- Farm or field location in N1/ZW for produce and nuts. GPS coordinates in REF CAF/CAG work if you do not have an address.
- The right date qualifier in DTM. Meat uses 405 for Production. Fresh whole produce uses 906 for Harvest. Bagged salads use 511 for Shelf Life Expiration. Get the category wrong and you have sent the wrong date.
- Packager telephone in PER with qualifier PY and TE. Someone the FDA can call about lot questions.
Most suppliers are missing at least two of these. Usually the N1/MP loop and the DTM qualifier.
What to Do Right Now
Pull your current 856 mapping. Compare the LIN, MAN, N1, DTM, and PER segments against what Walmart's v1.4 spec requires for FSMA items. The gaps will be obvious.
The harder part is usually the data source. Lot numbers and harvest dates may exist in your WMS, but never make it into the ASN. That is where the project gets real: finding the source of truth, mapping it cleanly, and proving it survives testing with the retailer.
July 2028 is enough time to do this right. It is not enough time to start late.
Better EDI Can Help
We do this for a living. Better EDI works with perishable food suppliers to map, test, and certify 856 transactions against retailer specs, including Walmart's FSMA requirements.
Whether you are starting from scratch or fixing an existing mapping that is missing half these fields, we can get you there without the back-and-forth that burns weeks on a typical EDI project.
Get in touch and we will take a look at what you have.