AI for Regulatory Compliance Arrives Just in Time
Food companies are doing more with less, and a wave of regulatory rules has brands searching for automated solutions to verify nutrition labeling, ensure compliance and support product development. AI for regulatory compliance, paired with centralized platforms, is a step change in development for large and medium-sized brands.
Why Are Regulatory Teams Turning to AI Now?
Consumers are rewriting the playbook in the food and beverage segment. The drive for healthier food and clean-label ingredients is spurring innovation for brands and product development teams. In addition, numerous regulatory industry drivers are prompting regulatory and compliance teams to identify new approaches and integrate technology to support product innovation. The recent focus on new product development and rapid reformulations compels food brands to leverage embedded AI technology, AI that is integrated directly in a software.
How Are Food and Beverage Regulatory Teams Using AI?
Large and medium-sized brands are employing embedded AI technology that provides regulatory teams with real-time data, focusing on institutional knowledge, standardized supplier data and traceability to streamline and optimize product development.
FoodChain ID has more than 30 years of food and beverage expertise in delivering product development software and regulatory data to brands. FoodChain ID Mentor™ is an embedded AI technology built specifically for the food and beverage sector.
It combines FoodChain ID’s trusted data and expertise with an organization’s standard operating procedures (SOP’s), policies, best practices and guidelines, embedding expert AI that reviews formulas in real time — providing guidance that adheres to regulatory and industry standards as well as internal rules and guidelines.
How Does AI Streamline Compliance Workflows?
Today’s modern regulatory teams use automated solutions to collaborate at every step of new product development or reformulation to optimize processes. FoodChain ID solutions enable product development teams to view and update recipe nutritional values in real time, without involving regulatory teams at every step.
Compliance managers can automate submissions to renew specifications or regulatory certificates, avoiding tedious, error-prone manual work and focusing on more value-added strategic activities.
A FoodChain ID customer recently said, “We have eliminated manual staff work to review dates for specifications and replaced it with an automated process; and added an automated procedure if any specifications become overdue.”
AI and deep expertise solutions are empowering teams to drive continuous improvement, easing the burden on small regulatory and compliance teams.
Discover how purpose-built tools and embedded AI technology deliver actionable guidance and ensure confident product innovation. Download our eBook here.
3 Challenges Regulatory Teams Face Today – And How AI & Purpose-built Tools Help to Solve Them
Functional Silos
Teams need real-time visibility into ingredient data, new labeling requirements and compliance requirements, but disparate data silos are inefficient for product development. Large and medium-sized brands are advancing data standardization and migrating data to centralized platforms such as FoodChain ID’s Recipes & Specifications solution. These data initiatives pave the way for embedded AI solutions that equip the team to identify allergen labeling rules or banned ingredients during early-stage product development.
Navigating Shifting Regulations
An increase in state legislation, allergen labeling and regulatory requirements is exerting pressure on brands in North America, Europe, and international markets, and companies need real-time visibility for these challenges. FoodChain ID’s Compliance Analysis integration, embedded in Recipes & Specifications software, aids brands with regulatory data throughout the product lifecycle.
Limited Staffing and Change Management
Product portfolios keep growing, but regulatory and compliance teams have historically been small. While additional staffing is a tough sell to management, regulatory teams are convincing decision-makers that the status quo is not sustainable if brands want to stay competitive. FoodChain ID’s Recipes & Specifications solution and FoodChain ID Mentor optimize product development and accelerate time to market, ensuring you meet internal standards and avoid labeling issues.
Why is Digitization Critical for Compliance and Innovation?
Innovation isn’t just about creativity; it’s about certainty. Product development timelines are compressed, and cross-functional teams rely on regulatory to confirm what is allowable, where a product can ship and which claims are feasible.
But when information is buried in PDFs, email threads or disjointed systems, regulatory becomes a bottleneck—not because of expertise, but because the infrastructure cannot support the speed the business requires. Delays or rework often stem from these disconnected workflows, not from capability gaps.
How Is FoodChain ID Mentor Different from Generic AI Tools?
Unlike bolt-on AI tools, FoodChain ID Mentor provides a comprehensive solution that evaluates products during creation or reformulation, ensuring adherence to internal standards and industry best practices. The FoodChain ID Mentor solution reduces low-value work for regulatory managers during product development or reformulaton. Product development teams can set up “skills” to ask FoodChain ID Mentor about company SOPs, regulatory protocols and best practices during development, and receive reliable answers without involving regulatory managers.
What is the ROI of AI for Regulatory Teams?
The underlying value for adding embedded AI technology is scale. This technology allows brands to expand into new markets and scale institutional knowledge from senior experts to junior staff. FoodChain ID Mentor transfers brand knowledge to junior members and serves as an always-on, up-to-date virtual expert.
The inflection point for the food and beverage industry is here, and embedded AI technology has arrived just in time.
Discover how purpose-built tools and embedded AI technology deliver actionable guidance and ensure confident product innovation. Download our eBook here.