Since President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) on January 4, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made significant progress in developing proposed rules to implement the sweeping food safety reform law, publishing mandated reports, and taking important steps toward increasing overall food safety capacity in the United States. Below are brief summaries of what FDA has accomplished to date.
Highlights
*Issued interim final rules on criteria for administrative detention and used this authority three times; issued interim final rules on prior notice of imported food.
*Issued guidance to the seafood industry on food safety hazards and to the dietary supplement industry regarding new dietary ingredients.
*Conducted extensive domestic and foreign outreach to all stakeholders to receive input in developing the proposed preventive control rules.
*Established the Produce Safety Alliance and the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance.
*Met the FSMA mandate for foreign food safety inspections, and is well on its way to meeting the 5-year inspection frequency mandate for high-risk domestic food facilities.
*Continued to build State-Federal and global partnerships.