The Food and Drug Administration has released its October to December 2012 progress report on implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). It details the actions taken by the government that are required by the Act, or empowered by the Act.
In October, the FDA released updated Guidance for Industry on the use of food product categories in facility registrations. It also announced updated food facility registration system for biennial registration renewal. Technical assistance of offered online and through the help desk.
In November, Ddeputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael R. Taylor spoke at the China International Food Safety and Quality Conference and Expo in Shanghai, China. He cited the work accomplished under FSMA. And the FDA suspended the food facility registration of Sunland’s peanut processing plant, after it was linked to a Salmonella Bredeney outbreak that sickened at least 41 people in the United States.
In December, the FDA issued updated guidance for food facility registration to reflect FMSA amendments to the FD&C Act. They also updated their Q&A on food facility registration, and announced a partnership with New Zealand to recognize the two country’s food safety systems as comparable.
Industry and consumers are still waiting for stalled FSMA regulations that have been languishing at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for almost a year after they were supposed to be implemented. Consumer groups sued the FDA and OMB in August for the delay. The four critical regulations that are delayed include new standards to improve the safety of America’s food supply. They are new produce safety standards, outbreak prevention requirements for domestic producers, verification rules for foreign food manufacturers, and preventive controls for animal feed facilities.
