Food Safety and Temperature Controlled Transportation

Poison control centers receive thousands of calls about suspected food poisoning each year. As the holiday seasons approach, it can be especially risky as people head to the grocery stores to prepare special meals for their loved ones. Although 14% of North American citizens get food poisoning each year, let’s face it… we all, as consumers, purchase our food with the assumption that what we prepare is not going to lead to illness and death.

The FDA finalized seven major rules to implement the FSMA. The rules translate the act into specific actions at each point in the global supply chain to reduce contamination and make it easier to implement the changes. Those seven rules are:

1. Preventive Controls for Human Food – Human food facilities registered with the FDA must implement a written plan that identifies hazards and outlines appropriate preventive controls
2. Preventive Controls for Animal Food – Animal food facilities registered with the FDA must implement a written plan that identifies hazards and outlines appropriate preventive controls
3. Produce Safety – Establishes minimum standards for growing, harvesting, packing, and storing produce
4. Foreign Supplier Verification Program – Importers must verify that their global suppliers comply with FDA regulations
5. Third-Party Certification – Accredits third-party certification bodies to administer voluntary consultative and regulatory audits to help companies prepare for regulatory audits or achieve certifications
6. Food Defense (intentional adulteration) – Food facilities registered with the FDA must develop a plan that assesses contamination vulnerabilities and document a mitigation strategy for each vulnerability
7. Sanitary Transportation – New requirements for companies that transport food, including shippers, receivers, loaders, and carriers