Food Safety Modernization Act

Food Safety Modernization Act

A Series on What is Essential for a Food Professional to Know

The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a significant and far reaching update of the laws and subsequent regulations that affect the safety of domestically produced and imported foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through FSMA, the U.S. Congress provides the FDA with greater powers and direct it to develop regulations that will focus the food industry on the prevention of foodborne illness. This series of articles will describe the legal “basics” for the readers of Food Protection Trends.

Download the Combined Articles

  • Article 1

    Consumer Information and Recall; Facility Registration and Suspension; Records Access; Prior Notice for Imports; and Other Provisions That Took Effect as of November 2012

    This first article focuses on the first provisions of the new law to take effect, including recall and consumer notification, facility registration and suspension, records access, prior notice for imports, administrative detention, fees for recall and re-inspection, and high-risk food categories. Future articles will examine the provisions of FSMA that govern new preventive control programs, produce safety standards, imported food requirements, lab accreditation, food defense and state surveillance reforms.

    Download Article 1

  • Article 2

    Hazard Analysis and Risk Based Preventive Controls

    The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a significant and far reaching improvement over the laws and subsequent regulations governing the safety of domestically produced and imported foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through FSMA, the U.S. Congress grants FDA greater powers and directs it to develop regulations that will focus the food industry on the prevention of foodborne illness. This series of articles describes the legal “basics” for readers of Food Protection Trends. This second article focuses on the preventive control programs that food facilities must implement. Future articles will examine the provisions of FSMA that govern new produce safety standards, imported food requirements, lab accreditation, food defense and state surveillance reforms.

    Download Article 2

  • Article 3

    Food Defense

    This is article three in a series of seven articles being published in Food Protection Trends to provide basics on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This article focuses on the main provisions of FSMA that pertain to Food Defense, which include hazard analysis and risk-based control, protection against intentional adulteration, national agriculture and food defense strategy, and the Food and Agriculture Coordinating Councils. It also includes discusson of activities covered by parts of additional sections of the Act that play a part in Food Defense: building domestic capacity, maintaining a food emergency response network, integrating a consortium of laboratory networks, and improving food defense capacity at the state and local levels.

    Download Article 3

  • Article 4

    Produce Safety Standards

    The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a significant and far-reaching update of the laws and subsequent regulations that affect the safety of domestically produced and imported foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through FSMA, the U.S. Congress provides the FDA with greater powers and directs it to develop regulations that will focus the food industry on the prevention of foodborne illness. This series of articles will describe the legal “basics” for the readers of Food Protection Trends. This fourth article focuses on the produce safety standards that farms must implement. Future articles will examine the provisions of FSMA that govern imported food requirements, lab accreditation, food defense and state surveillance reforms.

    Download Article 4

  • Article 5

    Surveillance

    The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a significant and far reaching update of the laws and subsequent regulations that affect the safety of domestically produced and imported foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through FSMA, the U.S. Congress provides FDA with greater powers and directs it to develop regulations that will focus the food industry on the prevention of foodborne illness. This series of articles describes the legal “basics” for the readers of Food Protection Trends. This fifth article focuses on enhancements to foodborne illness surveillance. Past articles have reviewed FSMA’s provisions on preventive controls, food defense, and produce safety standards. Future articles will examine the provisions of FSMA that govern imported food requirementsand lab accreditation.

    Download Article 5

  • Article 6

    Imported Food

    The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a significant and far reaching update of the laws and subsequent regulations that affect the safety of domestically produced and imported foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through FSMA, the U.S. Congress provides FDA with greater powers and directs it to develop regulations that will focus the food industry on the prevention of foodborne illness. This series of articles describes the legal “basics” for the readers of Food Protection Trends. This sixth article focuses on FSMA’s provisions that apply to imported food. Past articles have reviewed FSMA’s provisions on preventive controls, food defense, produce safety standards, and foodborne illness surveillance. A future article will conclude the series by discussing the provisions of FSMA that govern lab accreditation.

    Download Article 6

  • Article 7

    Laboratory Accreditation

    The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a significant and far-reaching update of the laws and subsequent regulations that affect the safety of foods regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through FSMA, the U.S. Congress provides FDA with greater powers and directs the agency to develop regulations that will focus the food industry on the prevention of foodborne illness, instead of the historical reactionary approach. This document is the last in a series of articles describing the legal fundamentals for food professionals and focuses on the provisions within FSMA that apply directly to laboratory accreditation, as FDA increases domestic and foreign laboratory capacity surrounding the sampling and testing of food products. The current understanding of the rule and applicability to the food testing industry, in general, is discussed.

    Download Article 7