Taken from FoodSafety.gov
Even before the President signed the Food Safety Modernization Act, the passage of this legislation set in motion sweeping improvements to the security and safety of our nation’s food supply.
Each year, foodborne illness strikes 48 million Americans, hospitalizing a hundred thousand and killing thousands.
The historic legislation the President has signed directs the Food and Drug Administration, working with a wide range of public and private partners, to build a new system of food safety oversight – one focused on applying, more comprehensively than ever, the best available science and good common sense to prevent the problems that can make people sick.
The idea of prevention is not new. FDA has established prevention-oriented standards and rules for seafood, juice, and eggs, as has the U.S. Department of Agriculture for meat and poultry, and many in the food industry have pioneered “best practices” for prevention. What’s new is the recognition that, for all the strengths of the American food system, a breakdown at any point on the farm-to-table spectrum can cause catastrophic harm to the health of consumers and great disruption and economic loss to the food industry.
So, we need to look at the food system as a whole, be clear about the food safety responsibility of all of its participants, and strengthen accountability for prevention throughout the entire food system – domestically and internationally. The new law meets these needs in numerous ways.
- For example, processors of all types of food will now be required to evaluate the hazards in their operations, implement and monitor effective measures to prevent contamination, and have a plan in place to take any corrective actions that are necessary. Also, FDA will have much more effective enforcement tools for ensuring those plans are adequate and properly implemented, including mandatory recall authority when needed to swiftly remove contaminated food from the market.
- We (Congress) will, in accordance with the law, establish science-based standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables to minimize the risk of serious illnesses or death, and we will set standards for the safe transportation of food.
- Moreover, with the signing of the law, FDA will for the first time have a congressional mandate for risk-based inspection of food processing facilities. For example, all high-risk domestic facilities must be inspected within five years of enactment and no less than every three years thereafter.
The legislation significantly enhances FDA’s ability to oversee the millions of food products coming into the United States from other countries each year. (more…)