Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013 - (Page 44)

SPECIAL INTEREST PAPER The Food Safety Modernization Act – A Series on What is Essential for a Food Professional to Know [ 1 Article 1. Consumer Information and Recall; Facility Registration and Suspension; Records Access; Prior Notice for Imports; and Other Provisions That Took Effect as of November 2012 CAROLINE SMITH DEWAAL* AND DAVID W. PLUNKETT Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1220 L St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20005, USA [ ABSTRACT The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a significant and far reaching update of the laws and subsequent regulations that affect the safety of domestically produced and imported foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through FSMA, the U.S. Congress provides the FDA with greater powers and direct it to develop regulations that will focus the food industry on the prevention of foodborne illness. This series of articles will describe the legal “basics” for the readers of Food Protection Trends. This first article focuses on the first provisions of the new law to take effect, including recall and consumer notification, facility registration and suspension, records access, prior notice for imports, administrative detention, fees for recall and re-inspection, and high-risk food categories. Future articles will examine the provisions of FSMA that govern new preventive control programs, produce safety standards, imported food requirements, lab accreditation, food defense and state surveillance reforms. A major revision of our nation’s food safety laws was advanced when President Barack Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law on January 4, 2011. This comprehensive law will reshape the approach taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from one that was largely reactive to one that focuses on prevention. The law will require the use of food safety plans throughout the food industry, based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) model already implemented in the seafood, juice, meat and poultry industries. The law gives increased emphasis to surveillance activities, on-farm food safety, and food laboratory accreditation, along with more traditional FDA activities such as inspection and import controls. There are a number of innovative elements in the new law, including reliance on a foreign supplier verification program and third-party certification for imported foods that are unique to FSMA. This article is the first in a series that will outline the provisions of FSMA and describe the elements and timing of its implementation. The series will provide a primer for non-legal food safety professionals. This first article looks at a number of provisions that have already been implemented by FDA, some of which are based on authorities first granted to the agency under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Bioterrorism Act). There are also several self-executing provisions that are reviewed such as the mandatory recall and new suspension of registration authorities. A law is said to be “self-executing” if its provisions become effective without the need for an agency to issue intervening regulations. *Author for correspondence: Phone: +1 202.332.9110, x366; Fax: +1 202.265.4954; E-mail: csmithdewaal@cspinet.org 44 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013
Contents
Food for Thought & Commentary
Secretary Election 2013
“Counter Top” Training Program
“...Listeria on Deli Slicers...”
Cooling of Foods in Retail Foodservice
Food Safety Knowledge, Beliefs and Behavior of Persons With Aids: A Multicenter Study
Beyond the Bio
Special Interest Paper
Legal Brief
PDG Highlight
Industry Products
Coming Events

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013