Timeliness is relative. So says the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the agency for its failure to implement and enforce in a timely fashion new regulations outlined in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). In a motion filed November 30 in US District Court in the Northern … Read more
Sunland Inc., the peanut butter maker at the heart of a massive recall and Salmonella outbreak, says its shutdown by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this week was “unexpected” and that it hopes to resume operations soon. Under its first use of authority granted by the Food Safety Modernization Act, the agency on Monday … Read more
On November 7, 2012, USDA Deputy Commissioner Michael R. Taylor spoke at the China International Food Safety and Quality Conference and Expo on ensuring consumer confidence in food safety in today’s global food system. He said that consumer confidence is the foundation for global food trade. According to Taylor, consumers know that food is not … Read more
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which is the federation of state PIRGs, has released a new report stating that food recalls are on the rise and our food safety systems are broken. Contaminated food makes 48,000,000 Americans sick every year, hospitalizes 128,000 and kills 3,000. Those illnesses rack up more than $77,000,000,000 in economic … Read more
Two consumer groups have sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the delay in implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Four critical regulations have been delayed at OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for more than eight months, making the Act … Read more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its annual Food Safety Report to Congress this week. The report covers the duties of the FDA over the past year, and is mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010. The FDA works with many federal agencies, including the CDC, EPA, USDA, FSIS, USDA … Read more
On Tuesday July 17, 2012, a coalition of foodborne illness victims and food safety organizations called Make Our Food Safe asked President Obama to release key food safety rules that are stuck at the Office of Management and Budget. The rules, part of the 2010 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), cover produce safety, packaged food … Read more
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) announced yesterday that it is urging the Obama Administration to issue four food safety rules, part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), that have been delayed for more than two months. The rules were due on January 4, 2012, one year after the President signed FSMA into law. … Read more
The USDA just released the Food Safety Modernization Act One-Year Progress Report, which details initial steps for implementation, information on mandates which were met, changes in communication and outreach, and reports to Congress. This is all good news. But the Truth for America’s Health group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in their report “Ready … Read more
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011 was signed into law by President Obama in January 2011. Some of the statutes in that law are going into effect in 2012. The government has already completed some tasks: A consumer-friendly, easy-to-search web site for product recalls was launched. The Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE), … Read more