From a regulatory point of view, Mike
Taylor J.D., Deputy Commissioner for
Foods, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a 2010 public address
stated the following:
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“We want to really learn from the community what are the best practices out there, and
how can our standards reflect the best practices
that have been demonstrated to be capable of
being implemented in practice?”
In this statement, FDA is reaching
out to the industry to work in partnership to define the “leading practices” to
ensure food safety.
“We won’t ever be able to, or aspire to, go
to the hundreds of thousands of farms that are
growing produce. This is going to take a community effort to get to where we need to be in
terms of prevention.”
With the passage of the FSMA, FDA
now has new mandates and more au-
thority to “stimulate” the food safety in-
dustry. All stakeholders have an
opportunity to pull together and help
FDA define the most practical and effec-
tive regulations based on science and les-
sons learned. Food safety managers need
the support of their CEO and top man-
agement teams to identify program gaps
and implement more effective preventive
controls. By taking a proactive approach
in anticipation of new regulations and
performance standards, each part of the
supply chain will have more time to prop-
erly train and implement changes through-
out their own supply chain in support of
their food safety culture.
The Path Forward
Preparing for and responding to the various parts of the FSMA will involve subject
matter specialists and the food industry at large, not only in the U.S. but globally.
Everyone benefits when wholesome, quality food is properly managed all the way
through the supply chain, including retail establishments and restaurants. The states
and their local health departments play crucial roles in advancing food safety down to
the consumer. They also play critical roles in the study of foodborne disease and assist
in defining the cause and removing it from the marketplace. A broader adoption of
the Food Code would be beneficial to everyone, especially the consumer. Mr. Taylor
states the following:
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“FDA has a long history of working with states through the Food Code, promoting the Food
Code as a model ordinance for states and localities to adopt and enforce. A lot of good has been
done through the Food Code cooperative program approach.”
This is a leading practice that still has a way to go before a more harmonized food
safety oversight system is in place across the entire U.S.
The food industry must closely evaluate
its extended supply chain to determine
where food safety gaps exist and to determine the best approach to fill them. The
supply chain is quite large with multiple
nodes. Figure 3 provides an illustrative view
of some key nodes of the supply chain, as
well as key management challenges impacting food distribution.
A comprehensive strategy to embrace
the supply chain and develop a world-class
food safety program involves three discrete
activities:
1. Assess: Assess the company’s capabilities for preventing and responding to food
safety threats. This phase allows a company
to benchmark itself against leading practices
in food safety. Even companies with mature food safety programs can benefit from
a comprehensive assessment, which identi-fies capability gaps and helps set priorities
for improvement. Once the improvement
opportunities have been prioritized, a
roadmap for change can be developed.
