After extensive consultations with global regulatory partners, farmers, industry stakeholders, members of the research community and various officials, the FDA has proposed two new food safety rules. The proposed rules will help in the implementation of the historic Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) which was passed two years ago.
According to the first food safety law, it would be mandatory for the makers of food sold in the USA to develop a formal plan to prevent their food products from causing food borne diseases. The law would be applicable to all the producers, irrespective of whether they produce their food at a foreign or a domestic based facility. The producers would also have to make plans for rectifying any problems that may arise later. These plans have to be properly documented so that inspectors may be able to audit them from time to time in order to enforce the safety standards. The FDA would give a time of one year to all the big producers of food while the time limit may be extended for small producers.
The second food safety rule makes it compulsory for all producers of fruits and vegetables to ensure that the water they use for irrigation meets the national standards. This is because contaminated water is an important source of many pathogens.
Consumers Often Fall Prey to Food Borne Illnesses
According to the FDA, one in every six Americans falls prey to various food-borne illnesses, every year. 130,000 of them require hospitalization while 3000 succumb to their illness. A lot of money is lost in the treatment of these diseases and in ordering large-scale recall of the contaminated food. The FDA believes that with the implementation of the FSMA rules, the focus will shift on preventing the contamination of food rather than reacting to its ill-effects.
The FDA also plans to propose rules for safety of animal feeds, safety during transportation of food and safety of foods imported into the country. Almost 15% of the food consumed in USA is imported from outside and the FDA wants to set rules to ensure that the third party food safety audits done overseas are also stringent.
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