Food Safety Upgrades Under New Law
Food safety upgrades under the new law signed by President Obama are spelled out in an open letter from Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
What follows here is her boiled-down list of specific improvements and mandates under the Food Safety Modernization Act:
- Processors of all types of food will now be required to evaluate the hazards in their operations, implement and monitor effective measures to prevent contamination and have a plan in place to take any corrective actions that are necessary.
- FDA will have much more effective enforcement tools for ensuring those plans are adequate and properly implemented, including mandatory recall authority when needed to swiftly remove contaminated food from the market.
- FDA will establish science-based standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables to minimize the risk of serious illnesses or death.
- FDA will set standards for the safe transportation of food.
- All high-risk domestic facilities must be inspected within five years of enactment and no less than every three years thereafter.
- Importers are now required to verify the safety of food from their suppliers and the FDA has authority to block foods from facilities or countries that refuse our inspection
- FDA will increase its inspection of foreign food facilities.
