NEWS BITES
FDA Opens the Reportable Food
Registry Electronic Portal
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a new way to head off
potential cases of foodborne illness—the Reportable Food Registry (RFR),
which food industry officials must use to alert FDA quickly when they find
their products might sicken or kill people or animals. The
requirement, a result of legislation, took effect with the
launch of the electronic portal.
Facilities that manufacture, process or hold food for
consumption in the U.S. now must tell FDA within 24
hours if they find a reasonable probability that an item of
food will cause severe health problems or death to persons or animals. The reporting requirement applies to all
foods and animal feed regulated by FDA, except infant
formula and dietary supplements. Some examples of reasons a food may be reportable include bacterial contamination, allergen mislabeling or elevated levels of certain
chemical components.
The opening of the RFR portal reflects a fundamental
principle of the President’s Food Safety Working Group
where “preventing harm to consumers is our first priority.” The requirements apply to any person who has to
submit registration information to FDA for a food facility
that manufactures, processes, packs or holds food for human or animal consumption in the U.S. These people are termed “responsible parties,” who
must investigate the cause of the adulteration if it may have originated with
the responsible party; must submit initial information followed by supplemental reports; and must work with FDA authorities to follow up as needed.
The agency issued draft guidance on the RFR in June and sought public
comments. FDA also held three public workshops across the country in
which FDA representatives explained the RFR requirements and how the portal will work. A Federal Register notice was issued September 8, 2009, announcing the opening of the electronic portal and the availability of final
guidance to assist the food industry in complying with the requirements of
the RFR.
See available industry comments at www.foodsafetymagazine.com/signature.asp.
USDA Proposal to Allow
Certain Meat
Processors to Ship
across State Lines
Under the proposal,
which was published for
public comment on Sept.
16, the voluntary cooperative program would allow
processing firms with 25 or
fewer employees to sell and
ship meat and poultry outside their state as part of
the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food”
campaign and as part of its efforts to bolster the
cooperative inspection programs between states
and the federal government.
“This new cooperative interstate shipment
program will provide new economic opportunities
for many small and very small meat and poultry
establishments, whose markets are currently limited,” said Jerold Mande, USDA’s deputy undersecretary for food safety. “We can provide new
markets for these establishments, while maintaining the integrity of the Federal mark of inspection.”
As part of the proposal, participating plants
would be inspected by federally trained or supervised state inspectors, who would be required to
verify that federal food safety requirements were
being met. Comments are being accepted between Sept. 16 and Nov. 16, 2009, through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov.
Recent Articles Available Online at www.foodsafetymagazine.com/signature.asp
One of the most important nutrients in animal feed is protein, which is required in precise amounts by animals, as an
excess leads to amino acid deficiency and generates unnecessary amounts of energy. The article Nitrogen/Protein Determination in Animal Feed Using Dynamic Flash
Combustion by Thermo Fisher Scientific discusses the
analysis of nitrogen/protein levels in animal feeds and examines the use of the dynamic flash combustion method as an
alternative to the conventional Kjeldahl method.
To help find new ways of protecting students from foodborne illness and protecting schools from the expense of lost
food and mechanical failures, Smart Systems, Inc., a service
provider in the food industry, has developed a temperature
management system to provide accurate, continuous temperature documentation. Read more about this system in
SMART Temps™ Temperature Management System Is an
Ally to Food Service Professionals in School Settings.
Genetically modified organisms undergo rigorous safety
assessments, including moisture anaylsis, before they become available on the market. See the article Efficient Moisture Analysis for the Safety of Biotech Food by
Mettler-Toledo to learn about available analytical solutions.
Traceability is a key area of focus in food safety to improve quality control, reduce recall costs and increase consumer confidence. The article From Pharm to Fork: What
the Food Industry Can Learn about Traceability from the
Pharmaceutical Industry by rfXcel Corporation discusses
some of the lessons that the food industry can learn from the
pharmaceutical industry about traceability technologies and
processes.
