Dive Brief:
- The House Appropriations Committee has approved a $41.5 million increase in funding dedicated to carrying out the regulations associated with FSMA for fiscal year 2016. However, that amount is less than half of the $109.5 million increase requested by President Obama's administration to be allocated, as many of the law's principal rules will be finalized by end of fiscal year 2016.
- "Before leaving her post as FDA Commissioner in March, Dr. Margaret Hamburg told both the House and Senate agriculture appropriations subcommittees that more money is critical for modernizing inspections and retraining staff, providing guidance and technical assistance, working with states, and raising the level of oversight overseas," according to Food Safety News,
- The bill also includes an increase in funding for the USDA’s Extension services so that the FDA does not have the be the only educator about FSMA regulations at the farm level.
Dive Insight:
What's interesting is that while the $41.5 million increase is less than half of the $109.5 million increase requested, even the full $109.5 million increase would have been less than half of what the Congressional Budget Office originally estimated that enacting the FSMA would cost. That original estimate was an extra $580 million in funding over a five-year period.
That the committee still approved the increase shows congressional prioritization, but the languishing amount could be detrimental to the continued implementation of FSMA and could harm all stakeholders, including government agencies and food manufacturers.
One food safety concern for food companies and consumers has long been food allergens, which the FDA has now issued final guidance on.
The guidance will "help food manufacturers provide adequate data to support exemptions from the labeling requirements for ingredients derived from major food allergens," according to the FDA. Under this guidance, food manufacturers could modify an ingredient made from an allergen in a way that the ingredient didn't present a risk to customers allergic to that ingredient.
