Food Safety Modernization Act

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 articles, there will be ample time for implementation once the rules are made final. Overall I recommend that mills wait until the rule is read and digested before making any far-reaching changes to their programs. There are, however, a few things you can do to begin preparation and give yourself a head start. These things, regardless of the final rule, will serve to strengthen your existing food safety program and improve your business operation.
What can I do now?
• Develop a list of all your suppliers
• Obtain letters of guarantee for the ingredients you receive
• Review your pest control program. Update your map. Develop activity trends and address areas of concern
• Map your production process from receiving through storage indicating where items are added and which points are measured
• Review your employee-training program – what topics are currently covered, is your training up to date?

Only time will tell where we all end up but here’s to being prepared!