While the food safety community strives to bring packaging under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points safety models, both packaging and food producers must now also consider the impact of the “Green Guides “recently issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  

This year, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the codification of the final rules that overhauled the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) nutrition labeling requirements for food in the United States. Passage of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act gave FDA authority to require specific nutritional information be declared on most food sold in the United States.  

FDA is becoming much more inspection-oriented and enforcement-minded, even before FSMA is fully implemented.  

Minimizing packaging waste must be done in a way that maintains the safety and hygiene of the food to keep it safe.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reopening the comment period for a draft Qualitative Risk Assessment for certain food facilities that include farm packing operations for fresh fruits and vegetables.  

An expert panel was convened to address some of the more critical questions regarding the implementation of this new regulation.

Protecting people’s health through prevention of foodborne illness requires smart regulation and also demands a food safety-minded business culture.  

Globalization of the food supply brings incredible growth opportunities, but the accompanying challenges cannot be ignored. Traceability throughout a complex supply chain has resulted in much greater risk exposure and potential liability for food manufacturers.  

This article briefly summarizes the proposed Food Safety Modernization Act rules and highlights some potentially troublesome and burdensome provisions that members of the food industry may wish to address in comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with regard to the proposed rules.

With the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) proposed rules out for comment, it is time for food manufacturers, processors and producers to review, analyze and assess how these rules will impact their businesses.