Question

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 2011 that 48 million people (1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years. It was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. The objective is to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing. One in 6 Americans get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The law also provides FDA with new enforcement authorities designed to achieve higher rates of compliance with prevention- and risk-based food safety standards and to better respond to and contain problems when they do occur. The law also gives FDA tools to hold imported foods to the same standards as domestic foods and directs FDA to build an integrated national food safety system in partnership with state and local authorities.

This all takes time. Congress has established specific implementation dates in the legislation. Some authorities will go into effect quickly, such as FDA's new authority to order companies to recall food, and others require FDA to prepare and issue regulations and guidance documents. FDA is committed to implementing the requirements through an open process with opportunity for input from all stakeholders.

What are the FDA's key new authorities and mandates?

What are risk-based food safety standards?

Do they have deadlines? Why is it taking so long to get anything done?

What are the consumers’ and industries’ perspectives of FSMA?

Answer 1

Question 1

According to the FDA's key new authorities and mandates

I. Imported food should have same standard as of domestic food.

II. Force FDA to build an integrated national food security system

III. Higher rates of compliance with prevention and risk based safety standards.

Question 2

Risk based food safety standards allow the systematic preventive approach to keep the food safe from many types of hazards during the food preparation and food processing step in order to get finished food product to be safe.

Question 3

No, they do not have any deadline. This all take time because it include various process that require time. Congess have takes their implemenation date and FDA have to make their guidelines in order to for new authorities and mandates.

Question 4

The industries perspective is to create safe food in industries by inspection authority. The industries do not know where they are doing the mistake in food manufacturing and processing. Consumer is also not aware about the new guidelines and not aware of the safety of food present in the market.