The FDA has finally released two Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules designed to improve the safety of imported foods. The rules will require that anyone importing food into this country must verify that the supplier is using prevention-based food safety practices. They must also create a system for certifying third-party auditors. These rules will hopefully prevent outbreaks such as the hepatitis A outbreak linked to imported pomegranate seeds that has sickened more than 150 people in this country. Eight of the 19 multi state foodborne illness outbreaks that have occurred since FSMA became law in January 2011 have been linked to imported foods. The rules have been stalled at the Office of Management and Budget for more than 1-1/2 years. The proposed rule for foreign supplier … [Read more...]
Food Poisoning Outbreaks Show Need For New FSMA Import Rules
The number of cases in the hepatitis A outbreak linked to frozen berry mix that contains imported pomegranate seeds continued its steady climb this week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued final reports on two Salmonella outbreaks linked to imported foods- cucumbers from Mexico and tahini paste from Turkey. Over the last few months, these three outbreaks have sickened at least 222 people- killing one of them, as proposed food safety rules for imported foods gather dust in Washington. Two and a half years after President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) almost nothing has happened. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was tasked with filling in the details of the food safety reforms outlined in FSMA, but so far only two proposed … [Read more...]
