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Oregon prepares for Food Safety Modernization Act
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9/14/2011
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Article Content
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ODA will continue its food safety inspection protocol.
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ODA spreads the word to Oregon food producers, processors
It's dubbed as the most significant change in the nation's food safety laws since 1938. The Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law by President Obama earlier this year, puts the focus on preventing food safety problems rather than reacting to them as they occur. The new law will have varying degrees of impact on producers, processors, and retailers of food throughout the country. The Oregon Department of Agriculture is providing outreach and education to those in the state wondering what it all really means.
"Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), you can expect new laws, new authorities given to our federal food safety partners, and new responsibilities for growers and processors," says Vance Bybee, administrator of ODA's Food Safety Division. "Even though there will be many changes, we want to assure everyone that the good relationships they have built with the Oregon Department of Agriculture will not change. We will continue to do our best to help them through these processes."
The hope is that FSMA enables the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to better protect public health by strengthening the food safety system. The three main components of FSMA include prevention, detection and response, and import safety. Some provisions are already in place while others continue to be developed for future implementation.
While the new law gives FDA additional enforcement authorities designed to achieve higher rates of compliance with prevention and risk-based food safety standards, state departments of agriculture like ODA will continue to provide a layer of inspection and response capabilities. Part of ODA's initial response to the new law is to explain it to Oregon's agriculture industry. ODA held two all-day forums- one in Portland, the other in Salem- in late July to outline FSMA, its expected impacts, and what growers and processors can do at this time to be ready. The forums were well attended and ODA may schedule additional ones later this year for other parts of the state.
ODA's Food Safety Division has also put together a team of experts to answer questions about the new law. Those questions can be sent to .
According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 48 million people-1 in 6 Americans- get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases. For many people, change in how the US deals with food safety problems is overdue.
"The laws that have been governing food safety and the laws upon which state food safety programs are based were promulgated 73 years ago," says Bybee. "Imagine the differences in technology and the advances in science that have occurred over that period of time."
Provisions of FSMA that are now operative allow FDA to increase the frequency of inspection and expand records access when there is a reasonable belief of a food safety problem. FDA also now has mandatory recall authority, embargo and detention authority, and the ability to collect fees from firms required to be re-inspected. There is also a new requirement for import certification compliance. Key provisions yet to be implemented include registration of all food facilities (including farms, processors, and retailers), what are called "preventative controls" to be determined for processors, a foreign supplier verification program, and performance standards that encompass the grower, not just the processor.
"The FDA is going to get involved in how food is grown and harvested- that is specifically mentioned in the Act," says Bybee. "This is a change. In the past, FDA's efforts were limited primarily to food processing. They will work with USDA, the state departments of agriculture, and the Department of Homeland Security to develop these program standards, which will be minimum standards for safe production of food. They are still working on what that will actually look like. Under the law, FDA standards must consider the size and scale of farms along with conservation and organic standards."
There is also a provision in the new law that calls for compensating a grower or food-related business in the event of an erroneous recall during a food safety outbreak. This provision specifically received a letter of support from the State Board of Agriculture in Oregon earlier this year. Another provision still in the works requires a traceability protocol for regional, national, and international markets.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes from FSMA is shifting the responsibility for import safety to those on the US side of the transaction. Importers and processors will now need to verify that foreign suppliers have the necessary preventative controls in place to ensure food safety. The provision is still under heavy discussion given the difficulty a small importer or processor might have in obtaining that verification, which may be costly.
"There are still questions about allowing third party audits of these foreign suppliers," says Bybee. "That could take much of the burden and cost off those importers and processors that can't afford verification."
Bybee continues to provide input to FDA on those parts of the law that have not been implemented. As Oregon's representative on the Partnership for Food Protection- a national work group looking at ways to deliver a safer food supply- Bybee hopes to help create a more workable law for the state's farmers and food processors. He says that is especially important given that FDA doesn't have extensive experience on-the-farm.
"It's good that we are still having a dialogue with our federal partners," says Bybee. "FDA will physically be more present in our state and may establish, monitor, and modify food safety standards for farmers, processors, shippers, and retailers. It will become increasingly important for Oregon and other states to understand the Food Safety Modernization Act so we can continue to work well with our federal partners."
While many provisions and details are still being ironed out, it's clear that a new era is underway on how Oregon and the US handles food safety issues.
For more information, contact Vance Bybee at (503) 986-4720.
Story of the Week pdf version
http://oregon.gov/ODA/docs/pdf/news/110914food_act.pdf
Audio Story of the Week
http://oregon.gov/ODA/news/110914food_act_audio.shtml
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