The Food and Drug Administration released two proposed rules to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act designed to help prevent foodborne illnesses.
One proposed rule is on Preventive Controls for Human Food and sets safety requirements for facilities that process, package or store food for people. These facilities would have to implement preventive controls with a written plan that evaluates hazards likely to occur in food, specifies steps to minimize or prevent those hazards, specifies how controls will be monitored, maintains routine monitoring records and specifies actions that will be taken to correct problems.
The other proposed rule is on Standards for Produce Safety and implements the food safety law requirements that science-based standards be set for the production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables. The rule would cover all fruits and vegetables except ones rarely consumed raw, produced for personal consumption or destined for commercial processing. The standards include requirements for these areas of agriculture: irrigation and other agricultural water, farm worker hygiene, manure and other soil additions, intrusion of animals in growing fields and sanitation conditions affecting buildings, equipment and tools.
These rules are open for public comment for 120 days.