Armed with clipboards, swabs and a keen eye, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has slowly begun assessing bakery operations across the country. Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), baking facilities will undergo inspections verifying that preventive controls are in place. And while being prepared for an unannounced inspection is at the top of many companies’ agendas, what should they expect when the investigators walk through the door?
Each side has just the congressional recess left to practice its hyperbole for the coming Senate fight over how regulations will be used across government. It’s going to get nasty. And confusing. The practice of giving the other side’s bill a dirty name is now a common tactic.
Once upon a time, an outbreak occurred, and the game was never the same. There probably isn’t a member of the baking industry who doesn’t remember the salmonella outbreak at Peanut Corp. of America. And Bill Kehrli, vice-president, sales and marketing, Cavanna Packaging Group, will never forget: Cavanna supplied around 30 packaging lines to a major North American bakery plant that received a tainted shipment of peanut butter.
The US Food and Drug Administration have finalized a new food safety rule under the landmark, bipartisan FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that will help to prevent wide-scale public health harm by requiring companies in the United States and abroad to take steps to prevent intentional adulteration of the food supply. While such acts are unlikely to occur, the new rule advances mitigation strategies to further protect the food supply.
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Good manufacturing practices play an obvious role in both FSMA and GFSI schemes, but in reality, you won’t pass FSMA muster or obtain a GFSI certification if you haven’t done your GMP homework.
More than 1,500 food safety professionals gathered at BNP Media’s 16th Annual Food Safety Summit (FSS) last month in Baltimore, MD to learn about the latest FSMA updates and how they will affect their companies’ businesses. They also heard the latest on food fraud and learned about traceability, prerequisite programs to manage food safety and quality, agricultural water issues, ways of preparing and responding to natural disasters, regulatory affairs and more. On the exhibit floor, where 178 vendors displayed their products and services, attendees found tools for functions such as managing food safety and track-and-trace systems, rapidly analyzing products for contamination and providing sanitation.
Comments are in for proposed Produce Safety Rule and Preventive Controls, but final rules have not been issued, leaving processors time to explore audit and certification alternatives.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, Michael Taylor, released a statement on Dec. 19 announcing that the FDA will propose modified rule language and open up an additional comment period on two of the rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
The American Bakers Association (ABA), a Washington trade group representing commercial bakers, is opposing the proposed food import user fee, proposed as a way to partially fund the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
