FSMA Timetable Reset: Court Orders & Re-Writes

Use this 3-year enforcement timeline when planning for employee training and compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act.

"Are we there yet?” Many senior plant and dairy corporate leaders are wondering when the journey will end regarding full implementation of the Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act.

With the settlement of a recent lawsuit against FDA, a just-released notice to extend comment periods for some of the major FSMA regulations, and a significant rewrite of the Preventative Controls proposed regulation this summer, any internal dairy company and dairy plant timetables to move toward FSMA compliance are significantly out-of-date.

The major takeaway of these “adjustments” to the FSMA implementation timeline is that plant budgets need to be increased for calendar year 2015 and 2016 to allow the upgrading of written food safety operational programs, training of staff to properly implement the upgraded programs and enhance the verification and validation of these programs as well as processing equipment.

KEYWORDS: dairy food safety FSMA

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Allen Sayler, asayler@easconsultinggroup.com, is the senior director for food consulting services at EAS Consulting Group. His expertise in the areas of food processing, particularly in the areas of dairy processing, infant formula, bakery products, food additives, botanical products and food packaging, as well as GSFI third-party certification programs such as Safe Quality Food (SQF), has been of great value to EAS clients. He has spent more than 30 years as a food processing and regulatory expert, including vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards at the International Dairy Foods Association. In addition, Sayler represents the U.S. food processing industry at the Codex Committees on Food Additives, Food Labeling, Food Hygiene and Milk & Milk Products.Allen Sayler is vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards for the International Dairy Foods Association.