food

Major food safety regulations are expected to be completed in 2015

The US government expects to complete major attempts under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2015. The FSMA of 2010 signed into law by the President on January 4, 2011. The Act which is aimed to ensure food supply safety in the United States shifts the focus from responding to food contaminations to prevention efforts, major policy shift for the government. The responsibility to formulate regulations has been vested in the nation’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They can formulate regulation regarding how food is grown, harvested and processed. Another major power given to the FDA under the Act includes mandatory recall authority which was requested by the agency for many years. The Act requires the agency to undertake the writing of at least ten new regulations.

Rules regarding preventive control for human food and similar regulations for animal food are expected to be completed by August 30, 2015. Rules for produce safety, the foreign supplier verification program and the third party accreditation rules are expected to be completed by October 31, 2015. The other two areas of the FSMA given to the FDA, sanitary transportation and intentional adulteration, are not expected to be completed before May 2016.