The US Food and Drug Administration completed new rules that would make food companies monitor the food they import. The rules state that the companies will be solely responsible for their imported food. They also consist of the new American safety standards for produce grown on American farm. The new rules are part of the law submitted by the Congress five years ago. The law was made to avoid importation of contaminated food.
According to The New York Times, FDA's new rules would oblige food companies to show proof that the food they bring to the US passed the American safety standards. Food importers should tap third-party companies to audit and to ensure that overseas facilities of the food are safe. But some consumer activists are against the said rules. They said it would give full democracy to importers.
FDA's deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine said that the latest salmonella outbreak in cucumbers that caused the death of four Americans and 150 hospitalized is a great example why the rules were made. He even added that it is the first time that food importers are under the agency's regulation.
News on the NBC said that the rules on produce cover requirements for growing, harvesting, and packing. They even consist of standards for water quality, manure use, and employee health and hygiene.
David Plunkett, a senior staff lawyer at the Center for Science in the Public Interest's food safety program shared, "These rules represent a lot of compromises." In addition, he said, "But imported food will at least now have someone who is responsible for assuring its safety. The bottom line is the food supply will be safer."
The FDA doesn't have the power to monitor foreign farms. However, it can compel food importers to follow and meet the American safety standards. Domestic and foreign food supply should always be monitored.
