Partnership for Safer Food: Leading the Way in Smart Solutions

In today's landscape, customer empowerment is at its peak, with individuals actively seeking out food companies that transparently disclose and adhere to stringent food safety practices. The prevalence of high-profile food recalls, encompassing a wide array of products such as romaine lettuce, beef, and even baby formula, has further heightened consumer awareness and scrutiny. Food safety is one of the biggest issues affecting the U.S. agricultural and food industries today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.

Recognizing the need for a proactive approach to food safety, the United States took a momentous stride with the signing of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law on Jan. 4, 2011. Designed to address a pressing national issue, FSMA empowers the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to shift its focus from reacting to food safety problems to preventing them altogether. FSMA and its associated framework of requirements, which are applicable to both human and animal food, are designed to ensure that standardized actions are taken at all control points in the food supply chain in order to prevent contamination, and in cases of a discovered safety or illness issue.

The FDA has finalized seven major rules to implement FSMA. Collectively they constitute the Produce Safety Rule and include:

1. Preventive Controls Rules for Human and Animal Food
2. Produce Safety Rule
3. Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) Rule
4. Accredited Third-Party Certification
5. Sanitary Transportation Rule
6. Intentional Adulteration Rule
7. Complying with FSMA

The transformative impact of FSMA on the nation's food ecosystem is widely acknowledged, and Nevada's small to medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) in the food industry are no exception. These manufacturers have realized that implementing FSMA goes beyond mere administrative formalities. Even those companies that claim to have well-established food safety plans and processes are encountering significant challenges in complying with the rigorous Preventive Controls Rules. One of the biggest hurdles to FSMA implementation is basic awareness and understanding regarding what needs to be done to achieve conformance with the new regulations.

In September 2019, to enhance the food manufacturing community’s understanding of how to respond to FSMA, the FDA Office of Partnerships, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate and coordinate on the outreach and dissemination of safe food manufacturing practices as well as training for small and medium-sized food manufacturers.  

A New Era For Smarter Food Safety

In addition to FSMA, the FDA has launched an initiative entitled a New Era of Smarter Food Safety, which recognizes and encourages incorporation of new technologies and an accompanying new mindset on food safety prevention practices and procedures. The four pillars of the FDA’s food safety initiative are:

1. Tech-Enabled Traceability and Foodborne Outbreak Response
2. Smarter Tools and Approaches for Prevention
3. Adapting to New Business Models and Retail Food Safety Modernization
4. Food Safety Culture

By leveraging the robust networks and alliances of both NIST MEP and FDA, our business advisors at Manufacture Nevada can help foster the integration of cutting-edge technologies and preventive measures for smarter food safety. Contact us today to learn how your business can employ smarter technologies and be in compliance with regulatory requirements.

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Content in this blog is in part sourced from the National MEP Website.