Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Safety

FDA Boosts Oversight Of Imported Food

by Britt E. Erickson
August 5, 2013 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 91, Issue 31

[+]Enlarge
Credit: FDA
Rules proposed by FDA would help agency port inspectors ensure that imported food is safe.
FDA field inspectors prepare samples of imported food for laboratory analysis in February 2009.
Credit: FDA
Rules proposed by FDA would help agency port inspectors ensure that imported food is safe.

FDA is proposing two rules to help ensure the safety of imported food, which now makes up about 15% of the U.S. food supply. The first measure would require food importers to verify that foreign suppliers are using prevention-based food safety practices. The second rule would establish a system for accrediting third-party food safety auditors. Both actions are mandated under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was signed into law in January 2011. FSMA shifts the paradigm for food safety from reaction to prevention, says Michael R. Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine. “Rather than relying primarily on FDA investigators at the ports to detect and respond to food safety problems, importers would, for the first time, be held accountable for verifying, in a manner transparent to the FDA, that the food they import is safe,” he says. FDA is also extending the comment period for two other food safety rules that were proposed in January—one on hazard identification and preventive controls, and the other on produce safety—so that stakeholders can consider all four proposals as a package.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.