Importers to audit food safety, says FDA

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Article Date: 27 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Importers to audit food safety, says FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released two proposed rules to improve the safety of imported foods. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, foodborne illnesses in the USA are on the rise. The FDA says it aims to make sure imported foods are at least as safe as those grown in the USA.

According to the UPMC Center for Health Security, foodborne pathogens cause 40 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths annually in the USA. The economic toll of foodborne illnesses, including medical expenses and lost productivity is estimated to be at least $77 billion each year. These figures include illnesses from consuming both home grown and imported foods.

The FDA proposal is part of a drive to implement the bipartisan FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act), signed by President Barack Obama.

The FSMA concentrates on ensuring the safety of foods and making sure food safety problems are prevented. Its objective is for the United States to have a preventive approach, rather than one that mainly relies on responding to problems after they occur.

The FDA is asking Americans "to review and comment on these important proposed rules."

The proposed food import rules will make it the importers' responsibility to check that their suppliers from abroad have implemented modern, prevention-oriented food safety practices, and "achieve the same level of food safety as domestic growers and processors."

Rules have also been proposed to give food safety audits of imported food more teeth, as well as making them more objective and transparent. Many food companies and importers today rely on these safety audits in their management of global food supply chains.

Over half of all the fresh fruits and 20% of fresh vegetables consumed in the USA come from abroad. Approximately 15% all food consumed in the country is imported.

FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., said:

"We must work toward global solutions to food safety so that whether you serve your family food grown locally or imported you can be confident that it is safe. Today's announcement of these two new proposed rules will help to meet the challenges of our complex global food supply system. Our success will depend in large part on partnerships across nations, industries, and business sectors."

Most fruits in the USA are imported

Under the proposed rules for FSVP (Foreign Supplier Verification Programs), American importers would, for the first time, have a clearly defined responsibility to check and make sure that their food suppliers meet U.S. food safety requirements.

Food importers will need to have a plan for their imported produce, which must include hazards linked to food items "that are reasonably likely to occur. Importers would be required to conduct activities that provide adequate assurances that these identified hazards are being adequately controlled."

Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, said "FSMA provides the FDA with a modern tool kit that shifts the paradigm for imports, as well as domestic foods, from a strategy of reaction to one of systematic prevention. 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."

The FDA has been directed by the FDA to establish a program for the Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors for imported food. The FDA proposes a rule that would give the Agency authority to recognize accreditation bodies based on certain criteria, including impartiality and competency. These accreditation bodies could be government agencies of other countries, as well as private companies. They would in turn accredit third-party auditors to inspect and issue certifications of food facilities abroad.

The FDA does not propose that importers be made to obtain certifications. Rather, certifications could be used by the Agency to decide whether imported foods that pose a safety risk to Americans may be admitted.

For the next 120 days members of the public are invited to comment on the two proposed rules listed below:

The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local officials are currently investigating outbreaks of Cyclospora infections in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Arkansas, Connecticut, New York City, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, and Missouri.

Cyclospora is a foodborne intestinal parasite common in tropical parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Up to July 25th, 2013, over 321 cases of Cyclospora infections have been reported to the CDC. Neither agency yet knows whether all the outbreaks have the same source.

Written by Christian Nordqvist

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