The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed the United States congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2011 and reflects a shift in the government’s effort toward food safety. Instead of looking for problems with raw food imports, FSMA calls on import companies to track how food is processed and transported by exporters before it arrives on US soil.
The goal, the Food and Drug Administration explains, is to prevent the potential for food contamination and minimize food recalls in the American supply chain.
To do this, all food facilities covered by the new law must conduct hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HARPC) and implement what the government calls “science-based preventive control measures” to reduce the risk of contamination.
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FSMA calls on food processors to do two things. First companies must understand how HARPC works and differs from the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) that many companies currently have in place. HARPC and HACCP are food safety management systems in which raw food products are analyzed for biological, chemical, or physical hazards during production, procurement, handling, manufacturing, distribution, and eventually consumption.
Second, companies must increase their vigilance by incorporating HARPC into their operations. HARPC is much like HACCP yet it focuses on preventive measures to identify and eliminate potential risks to the food supply. Under HARPC, companies must establish and implement science-centered risk-based preventive controls, which extend beyond the critical control points (CCP) required by HACCP.
“Facilities that are doing less than a $1 million in global sales have an exemption from the HARPC plan,” said Bracey Parr, a regulatory specialist for Registrar Corp. and an expert on the new law. “What the FDA is thinking is this: If a company is doing a million dollars in sales, they have the resources to do this and their products are being consumed by a large number of people. Very, very small importers have exemptions because this is a burden. FDA does try to take that into account.”
About 48 million Americans, or one in six, become sick by foodborne illnesses each year, FDA reports. Nearly 130,000 require hospitalization and 3,000 people die. The new law targets imported raw foods, in part, because 15% of the US food supply arrives from other countries and new hazards are being discovered in foods each year.
For complete information on the Food Safety & Modernization Act, visit the US Food and Drug Administration’s website: http://bit.ly/2ubxwKp
- Dan Shryock