The FDA announced on Friday that they are delaying the close of the comment period on two food safety rules that are part of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Those rules are already more than a year overdue. The two rules are “Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food” and “Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption.” Both rules were published for comment on January 16, 2013.
Comments were supposed to close on February 15, 2013, but requests by the United Fresh Produce Association and others asked the government to extend the comment period. The press release stated, “FDA is taking the action of extending the deadline for the comment period in response to requests for that extension, in order to allow interested persons additional time to submit comments.”
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released a statement on this delay. She said, “When the FDA first announced these proposed rules a little over a month ago, I stressed the need for them to be implemented in a robust, timely fashion. Unfortunately that has already fallen by the wayside with today’s announcement. I am deeply concerned that special interests are pressuring the FDA to slow-walk this process and water down these rules that are supposed to protect people.”
She continued, “American families are already living with the specter of foodborne illness and contamination hanging over them. It is shameful that in a country as wealthy and prosperous as ours, with all the scientific and technological knowledge we possess, parents still have to worry if ground beef, cantaloupe, spinach, or any other number of foods, will send their children to the hospital, or possibly even their death.”
You can comment on the rules by visiting the Federal Register. Comment on the Preventive Controls rule or the Produce Rule by May 16, 2013.
