Since the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in 2011, deadlines for publication of the rules governing food safety have been extended several times. Recently, in response to a suit by several consumer advocacy groups, the FDA has finalized those dates as follows:
• August 30, 2015 – Preventive control rules for human food and preventive
control rules for animal feed
• October 31, 2015 – Produce safety standards, foreign supplier verification
• October 31, 2015 – Produce safety standards, foreign supplier verification
program, and accreditation of third party auditors
• March 31, 2016 – Sanitary transport of food and feed
• May 31, 2016 – Intentional adulteration of food
However, the FDA emphasizes that manufacturers, processors and packagers of foods, including pet foods and dietary supplements should not interpret these extensions as signaling a weakening of its commitment to the primary purpose of the FSMA law: to focus on the prevention of foodborne illnesses, rather than reacting to them after the fact. Some people within the industry have suggested that, with Washington focused on reducing expenditures, the FDA would not have the resources to adequately enforce FSMA. This can lead some food companies to believe they can risk continuing to operate as usual without risk of penalty.
That would be unwise. In addition to continuing to be committed to implementing FSMA, the FDA has also extended the reach of its oversight by encouraging food industry employees to report unsafe practices by their employers directly to the FDA, and by protecting those that do.
FSMA, in addition to giving the FDA the authority to detain a food or dietary supplement product if the agency has reason to believe it is adulterated or misbranded, also supports employees who blow the whistle on their employers’ unsafe food practices. FSMA provides protection for those whistleblowers, and on February 13, 2014, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced further support for those protections by publishing interim regulations entitled “Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints Under Section 402 of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act” that establish systems and time frames for filing, handling, investigating and ruling on FSMA-related retaliation complaints.
Under these Procedures, a company may not retaliate against, discipline or otherwise take an adverse action against an employee on the basis that the employee has provided information to the federal or state government about violations of FSMA, testified about those violations or refused to follow instructions that the employee believed would violate FSMA regulations.
Encouraging and protecting whistleblowers enables the FDA to extend its food safety oversight capability further, even in the face of threatened budget reductions. And, enlisting the help of personnel already on site within companies to report unsafe practices is much more efficient than using its own limited staff to keep tabs on the large number of companies registered under FSMA.
FSMA will be fully implemented and enforced. Those companies that gamble against that outcome are putting their brand image and even the future of their company at risk.
• March 31, 2016 – Sanitary transport of food and feed
• May 31, 2016 – Intentional adulteration of food
However, the FDA emphasizes that manufacturers, processors and packagers of foods, including pet foods and dietary supplements should not interpret these extensions as signaling a weakening of its commitment to the primary purpose of the FSMA law: to focus on the prevention of foodborne illnesses, rather than reacting to them after the fact. Some people within the industry have suggested that, with Washington focused on reducing expenditures, the FDA would not have the resources to adequately enforce FSMA. This can lead some food companies to believe they can risk continuing to operate as usual without risk of penalty.
That would be unwise. In addition to continuing to be committed to implementing FSMA, the FDA has also extended the reach of its oversight by encouraging food industry employees to report unsafe practices by their employers directly to the FDA, and by protecting those that do.
FSMA, in addition to giving the FDA the authority to detain a food or dietary supplement product if the agency has reason to believe it is adulterated or misbranded, also supports employees who blow the whistle on their employers’ unsafe food practices. FSMA provides protection for those whistleblowers, and on February 13, 2014, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced further support for those protections by publishing interim regulations entitled “Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints Under Section 402 of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act” that establish systems and time frames for filing, handling, investigating and ruling on FSMA-related retaliation complaints.
Under these Procedures, a company may not retaliate against, discipline or otherwise take an adverse action against an employee on the basis that the employee has provided information to the federal or state government about violations of FSMA, testified about those violations or refused to follow instructions that the employee believed would violate FSMA regulations.
Encouraging and protecting whistleblowers enables the FDA to extend its food safety oversight capability further, even in the face of threatened budget reductions. And, enlisting the help of personnel already on site within companies to report unsafe practices is much more efficient than using its own limited staff to keep tabs on the large number of companies registered under FSMA.
FSMA will be fully implemented and enforced. Those companies that gamble against that outcome are putting their brand image and even the future of their company at risk.
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