Food Protection Trends - November 2009 - 777

into force that will do even more to guarantee the elimination or prevention of foodborne illness by removing contaminated products from commerce, preventing such products from ever reaching the consumer. The title of a September 2009 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) news release stated it succinctly: “FDA Opens the Repor table Food Registry Electronic Portal for Industr y: Food facilities now required to report potentially dangerous products.” The new system replaces a voluntar y approach to reporting with a legally binding requirement to notify the FDA about potential adulteration of food products. The Reportable Food Registry (RFR) helps to make the system less reactive and more preventive. Facilities that manufacture, process or hold food for consumption in the United States (responsible party) must now tell the FDA within 24 hours if they find a reasonable probability that an article of food will cause severe health problems or death to a person or an animal. This requirement applies to all foods and animal feed regulated by the FDA, except dietary supplements and infant formula. Examples of a reportable incident include bacterial contamination, allergen mislabeling, or elevated levels of certain chemicals. Once a report on a product is submitted through the RFR portal, the responsible party must: (1) investigate the cause of the adulteration if the adulteration may have originated with the responsible party; (2) submit initial information, followed by supplemental reports; and (3) cooperate with the FDA to help determine the cause. Companies must also notify relevant suppliers and distributors of the potential food safety issue. This requirement applies only to product that has already been shipped. Getting back to the baseball analogy, this new legislation is equivalent to a well-fielded pop-fly; it takes the ball and the runner out of play. The new requirement will work to eliminate the burden of proof. Since there will not be a play at the base, so to speak, there is nothing for the batter-runner to prove. The consumer is no longer the defense or the offense, but should now have peace of mind when serving and consuming food. The manufacturer/processor is now both the offense and the defense, identifying and eliminating hazards before they can reach the consumer. As baseball great Leo Durocher once said, “You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.” That’s very relevant to those of us dedicated to food protection, because there are no rainouts in food safety. This new legislation should inspire everyone involved with the manufacture and distribution of foods to aim out of the ballpark in providing the highest level of food safety possible in every product, everyday. As always, feel free to contact me at anytime at VLewandowski@kraft.com. Request for Prepoposals for Research Support The Technical Committee on Food Microbiology of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) North America is accepting preproposals for financial support of research in the area of “Technology and Process to Control Salmonella in Low-Moisture Foods.” The committee is prepared to fund research in the following research areas: (1) (2) (3) Persistence of Salmonella in low-moisture foods and the processing environment; Salmonella mitigation processes for use in the production of low-moisture foods; and Non-aqueous sanitation processes that eliminate Salmonella from dry manufacturing equipment and processes, and strategies to validate the new processes. The deadline for submission of preproposals is December 15, 2009. Preproposals can be obtained from the ILSI North America office or electronically from http://www.ilsina.org. For more information contact, Darinka Djordjevic, ILSI North America, 1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20005, USA. Phone: 202-659-0074, Ext. #155 • E mail: ddjordjevic@ilsi.org. NOVEMBER 2009 | FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS

http://www.ilsina.org http://www.ilsina.org

Food Protection Trends - November 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November 2009