On January 4th, 2011, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama, making it the first significant food safety reform in over 70 years.
Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) progressed forward in releasing two major proposals which, instead of intended towards consumers, would affect “areas such as suppliers, manufacturing plantshttp://www.roadscholar.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.php, wholesale dealers, and transportation.” 1
The FDA’s following proposed rules “build on existing voluntary industry guidelines for food safety” and “are key to the preventive food safety approach established by the 2011 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.” 2
1. Manufacturing, process, packing, or holding facilities of human food products that “are required to register with FDA under FDA’s current food facility registration regulations,” must “develop a formal plan for preventing their products from causing foodborne illnesses.” 2,3 This includes:
a) “Analyzing potential hazards associated with their facilities” along with a recall plan. 4
b) “Develop and implement controls to significantly minimize or prevent those hazards.” 4
c) “Verify the controls are working (and take corrective action if they are not).” 4
d) “Periodically reassess those hazards and controls.” 4
This proposal is expected to cover an anticipated 97,600 domestic and 109,200 foreign facilities. 5
2. “Enforceable safety standards for the production and harvesting of produce on farms.” 3
Risks
Do you know that 1 in 6 Americans suffer foodborne illnesses, affecting 48 million Americans, hospitalizing nearly 130,000 and causing nearly 3,000 fatalities annually?
Not properly vetting out brokers or carriers puts your product and brand equity at risk through recalls and vicarious liability claims, due to accidents, spoilage due to negligence, and faulty equipment. Road Scholar outlines these risks and how to prevent them in our white paper: Supply Chain Insanity: Would you Choose a Babysitter Found on Craigslist? Click here for your free copy.
According to the FDA, its proposal would attribute to nearly 1 million of food illnesses each year and save nearly $2 billion annually from the economic cost of illnesses. 5 During its first year in effect, the proposal is expected to cost $701 million with “an annualized cost of $472 million using a 7 percent discount rate.” 5
How Can Road Scholar Help?
Road Scholar Transport provides you with six ways to keep your freight safe from contamination:
*We utilize aluminum floor trailers which can help prevent contamination built up on wooden flooring over time, creating a more sanitary environment for your products.
*We conduct regular sweeps on all trailers to ensure that your freight is being transported in a clean, and therefore safe, environment.
*We have record of what was inside the trailer before your freight, before that, within the last month, and so on, as well as what has been transported since the last time the trailer was cleaned.
*We employ reefer tracking with the ability to adjust trailer temperature remotely from headquarters, complete with unlimited user-defined temperature alerts, displaying the history of the temperature inside the trailer (even months after delivery) to ensure that your freight was transported under the proper conditions.
* Electronic Door Monitoring: Displays the time of every door opening/closure alerting of any suspicious activity.
Effective Date
Currently, there is a 120 day comment period on the FDA’s proposals. If published, the rule would take affect after 60 days. Compliance dates are as follows (according to the FDA website):
-“Small Businesses—a business that employs fewer than 500 persons and that does not qualify for an exemption would have to comply two years after publication of the final rule.” 5
-“Very Small Businesses—Three options are being proposed for the definition of a very small business: less than $250,000, less than $500,000, and less than $1,000,000 in total annual sales of food, adjusted for inflation. Very small businesses, which would be considered “qualified facilities” and subject to modified requirements for preventive controls, would have to comply three years after publication of the final rule.” 5
-“Other Businesses—a business that is not small or very small and does not qualify for an exemption would have to comply one year after publication of the final rule.” 5
Read the FDA’s proposed regulations at http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FSMA/ucm334115.htm.
Would you like to know more about Road Scholar’s ReeferTrak? Contact us at www.roadscholar.com.
1http://www.hayspost.com/2013/01/14/extension-agent-u-s-food-supply-generally-very-safe/
2http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d34b3dbc-273a-4e9f-ac48-3871a85e8a58
5http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FSMA/ucm334115.htm
