Dive Summary:

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its new Food Defense Plan Builder software, a free program intended to help owners and operators of food facilities--ranging from production to restaurants--develop plans to prevent intentional food contamination.
• The software guides users through a series of questions to develop a comprehensive plan that includes a vulnerability assessment, mitigation strategies and an action plan.
• The FDA doesn't require facilities to put food defense plans in place, but many facilities have done so voluntarily to prevent incidents like one in 2009 where 40 people in Kansas became ill after ingesting salsa contaminated with pesticides by disgruntled restaurant employees.

From the article:

... “The FDA is committed to providing best practices and resources to support industry as we pursue our shared goal of protecting our food supply,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor. “We strongly encourage companies to take full advantage of the Food Defense Plan Builder.” ...