By Ross Boettcher - WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER 12/26/11
The federal Food Safety Modernization Act will result in numerous changes — some large, some small
— for food manufacturers and farmers in 2012 and beyond as the Food and Drug Administration continues its slow, steady
rollout of new regulations.
During the new law's first year, little
has changed other than sweeping educational efforts to prepare farmers and food manufacturers for ramped-up federal inspection
efforts. The inspections will include more, and increasingly intense, reviews of food safety and health protocols.
But for 2012 and beyond, companies are preparing for financial effects. Over the next five
years, the FDA is planning to issue more than 50 new rules, add inspectors and ramp up oversight efforts to the tune of $1.4
billion. Read Full Story...
“While the F.S.M.A. directly affects only F.D.A. authority,
its implementing regulations and policies are likely to influence food safety practices throughout the federal government
and the food and farm sectors,” the U.S.D.A. said in its December issue of Amber Waves.
The U.S. Congress
passed the F.S.M.A. in late 2010 after a series of highly visible food borne illness outbreaks. It was signed into law in
January 2011 and is considered the most comprehensive reform to federal food safety laws and F.D.A. authority since 1938.
READ FULL STORY...
News (July 2011) Joint Anti-Smuggling Strategy FDA issued on July
3, a joint anti-smuggling strategy developed with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS). The anti-smuggling strategy will help to identify and prevent smuggled foods from entering the United
States and posing a threat to national security and consumer safety. The FDA will work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) to review historical data and better identify products, firms, and countries of origin to establish food smuggling targeting
criteria. The FDA and CBP also will share information on import shipments and conduct joint examinations, when appropriate,
to identify shipments that may contain smuggled food. When possible, the agencies will work together to publicize food smuggling
enforcement actions to deter others from attempting similar acts.
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law by President Obama in January, has been called “historic”
because it puts the focus of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on prevention—working to ensure that unsafe foods
are not distributed in the first place.
FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg says the law directs the agency to oversee
food safety in a way that applies “the best available science and good common sense to prevent the problems that can
make people sick.”
What lends the new law additional importance is that it provides FDA with new enforcement and
inspection authorities.
“These new authorities are critical for the law’s success,” said Michael R.
Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods. “They give the food companies strong additional incentives for keeping
their products safe, and that helps us achieve the new law’s goal, which is to protect consumers from unsafe food.”
