With the new year just around the corner, it’s time to reflect on what changed in 2019 and what’s to come for 2020 in the world of food safety. Significant foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls this year put an increased focus on farm-to-fork accountability. For many food processors, this meant reevaluating their facility’s food safety efforts and those of their suppliers.
- Foreign material contamination forced a recall of over 11 million pounds of frozen and RTE chicken strips
- Salmonella Uganda infections spread and are potentially related to whole, fresh papayas
- An coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to Romaine lettuce
The following five trends should influence the food safety landscape in North America next year:
1. Regulatory performance metrics should drive FSMA implementation – The FDA has launched a food safety dashboard, FDA-TRACK, to help evaluate how well the FSMA rules are being implemented, and whether there is any need for improvement from the industry to control foodborne outbreaks, recalls and product contamination. More information about this agency-wide program is available on the FDA’s website.
2. There will be a focus on modernizing food production lines – As an example, FSIS-USDA just announced a final rule for facilitating the establishment of a New Swine Slaughter Inspection System aimed at allowing for food safety innovations while not compromising the goal of protecting public health.
3. Regulations will increasingly influence regional food safety developments – In the U.S., phased implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) through targeted FDA’s Final Rules has been making its mark. Meanwhile, Canada’s Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), came into force on January 15th of this year. We should expect to see closer collaboration between the FDA and the CFIA in order to streamline and align their food safety systems to ensure a seamless regional trade partnership. Explore our recent white paper on Canada’s SFCR in our Knowledge Center.
4. Hygienic design will be a much bigger industry focus – A new working group has just started their work on integrating hygienic design elements with the existing GFSI requirements (with a globalized farm-to-fork food safety approach) under scope K, covering food processing/handling equipment and facilities. This will facilitate the eventual adoption of hygienic design elements by the industry as it’s implemented in GFSI-benchmarked standards like BRC and SQF.
5. We will be entering a New Smarter Era of Food Safety, and maybe sooner than expected – Frank Yiannas, the FDA deputy commissioner for Food Policy & Response, has been spearheading the agency’s efforts to develop a strategic plan on leveraging technology, smarter tools, and best practices for creating a more digital, traceable, and safer food safety system. Through Frank’s previous professional work experience with Disney and Walmart, he has aptly evaluated that implementing such a novel regulatory approach requires continuous collaboration and communication with the industry and relevant stakeholders. A brief summary of the FDA’s approach is available on their website.
2020-2021 Compliance Dates to Remember:
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Type
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Details
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Compliance Date
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GFSI-based standard
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FSSC 22000 Version 5
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Auditable from Jan. 1, 2020
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U.S. FSMA Final Rules
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PRODUCE SAFETY rule compliance for all produce types (for all farm sizes); other produce (remaining water requirements for large farms); other produce (very small farms except certain water requirements)
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Jan. 27, 2020
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FOREIGN SUPPLIER VERIFICATION PROGRAM rule compliance for importers of animal food whose foreign supplier is a qualified facility (including very small businesses) subject to PCAF, PC but not CGMP requirements
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March 17, 2020
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INTENTIONAL ADULTERATION rule for small businesses
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July 27, 2020
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FOREIGN SUPPLIER VERIFICATION PROGRAM rule compliance for importers whose very small business foreign supplier is subject to the Produce Safety rule
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July 27, 2020
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Canadian SFCR Compliance
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Written Preventive Control Plan for fresh fruit and vegetables facilities
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Jan. 15, 2020
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Licensing, traceability and written Preventive Control Plan compliance for other food facilities (except meat, fish, eggs, dairy, processed fruits or vegetables, honey, maple products, and fresh fruits & vegetables) with gross income >CDN100K and >5 employees
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July 15, 2020
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Licensing and traceability requirements compliance for other food facilities with gross income >CDN100K and <5 employees
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July 15, 2020
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Written Preventive Control Plan compliance for other food facilities with gross income >CDN100K and <5 employees
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July 15, 2021
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Licensing and traceability requirements compliance for other food facilities with gross income of <=CDN100K
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July 15, 2020
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Preventive Controls compliance for other food facilities with gross income of <=CDN100K
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July 15, 2021
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Remco believes that using the right sanitary implements – and through their selection, storage, care, and maintenance – has a vital role in maintaining a cleaner and safer food production environment. Our line of food-safe offerings includes color-coded material handling and cleaning tools like scoops, tubs, brushes, squeegees, and more. Additional information about our products is available at remcoproducts.com/products/.
Links for Additional Information:
