Dive Brief:
- The FDA announced Thursday final food safety legislation under FSMA aimed at stopping food adulteration across the supply chain.
- The rule applies to both foreign and domestic operations. Both must create and follow a food defense strategy, vetting vulnerabilities and possibility for intentional public health disruption.
- With this last regulation, all seven main FSMA rules are complete.
Dive Insight:
As with all the FSMA rules, the key for manufacturers is finding the best route to meet compliance. This particular rule is one that will benefit manufacturers in the long-term, if successful: By estimates, food fraud amounts to $49 billion lost yearly across the world, and 10% of food purchased is likely adulterated, according to a Grocery Manufacturers Association news release.
GMA and Battelle announced last month a tool for manufacturers to better prevent food fraud, EMAlert. It's a web-based platform, using live data, for manufacturers to synthesize economically motivated adulteration (EMA) vulnerability specifically in manufacturing.
Tools like these could aid struggling manufacturers in making compliance. There are differing statistics regarding manufacturers' readiness. About 61% of U.S. food and beverage professionals said they feel their organizations are prepared to comply with FSMA regulations this year, according to a recent survey conducted by enterprise quality management software maker Sparta Systems, Inc.
But in another survey published last month, 68% of respondents said they were "somewhat ready" for FSMA, while only 25% confirmed they were ready for FSMA. Another 6% admitted they weren’t prepared at all.