September 19, 2016 marked the date for the first wave of FSMA implementation for the largest of the food and feed companies under FDA jurisdiction. We should finally begin to have clarity into some of the requirements and expectations of the overall management program. To that end FDA has released a draft Guidance document for […]
Still struggling to make the connection between your HACCP plan and the FDA mandated HARPC? While some of the expectations are still a bit gray, and will be until we start to see enforcement from FDA, it is possible to take some active steps to bring your overall plan into compliance. The stressed difference is […]
A basis for any food safety program is the implementation and documentation of Good Manufacturing Practices. While the idea may seem intimidating at the onset, as you become more accustomed to the process you may find it of great benefit to your operation. The Preventative Controls regulations require cGMPs for employees, facility, sanitation, water distribution, […]
Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for both Human Food and Food for Animals was published in the Federal Register in September 2015 and with this action, the countdown to implementation has begun. The first wave of facilities will be expected to have implementation complete no later than September 17, 2016 […]
With the arrival of summer comes what should be the final laps for the Preventative Controls for Animal Feeds rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act. The FDA development group is indicating final rule publication by the end of August 2015 providing for some relaxing beach reading over Labor Day weekend. As mentioned in prior […]
It’s the right thing to do. How many times have we told ourselves that as we made a tough decision? Buck up – it’s the right thing to do! It’s an oft used phrase of our President as well. He often pairs unpopular decisions with the comment. Some one used it this week that made […]
FDA has revised the Animal Feed requirements for FSMA implementation, resulting in approximately 2200 less mills being required to implement. The summary of changes can be found here. FSMA & Animal Feeds
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture update of the proposed rules from the Food Safety Modernization Act related to animal feed manufacture and transport. The speaker was a representative from the FDA qualified to speak on the subject and he did his level best to provide everything that […]
I was on vacation in New Mexico last week. A nice dose of Vitamin D and 60 plus degree weather and the snowstorm forecast for Sunday – Tuesday seems a little less daunting. The subzero temperatures on a daily basis, however, I am completely done with. Give me 100 over 0 any day. While in […]
SQFI has made news these past few weeks with their announcement that beginning in 2015 some SQF audits will be unannounced. While unannounced audits are nothing new to the industry they do always cause concern. There are many valid reasons to not like unannounced audits: 1. Vacation schedules can make program and document reviews difficult. […]