Sweeping Revamp Of Food Safety Rules Goes Into Effect

The Food Safety Modernization Act is set to be implemented following issuing of rules that concluded in May of this year. In a cover story for the Oct-Nov issue of Food Safety magazine, McGuireWoods attorneys Christopher Ripple, J. Brian Jackson and Jim Neale call the FSMA “the most sweeping reform of U.S. food safety laws in over 70 years.” They say it will bring a new FDA emphasis on preventing rather than responding to crises, and they discuss the practical challenges of responding to each of the seven substantive rules that have now been issued. “Failure to comply with the rules,” they write, “may result in significant civil and strict-liability criminal penalties, which means that responsible persons can be guilty of a crime without negligence or knowledge of a violation.” An especially challenging rule will require covered companies to monitor and document risks in both their supply and distribution chains. One rule, the so-called Food Defense rule, is deemed a “first-of-its-kind.” It requires large food companies to implement food defense plans “to assess and manage the risk of an act of intentional adulteration intended to cause wide-scale public harm.” This will involve vulnerability assessments and possibly such practices as locking ingredients in sealed containers and staffing sensitive areas with multiple employees.