The Food and Drug Administration of the United States just released new food safety rules for both produce farms and imported food. The said rules aim to modernize and strengthen the food safety system within the country.
In order to prevent the country from foodborne illnesses, FDA finally finalized a new set of safety rules that implement the bipartisan of Food Safety Modernization Act. The Act is said to implement groundbreaking rules for the safety of produce farms and imported foods, making the importers accountable to their foods if it will not meet the safety food standards of the U.S.
Aside from that, the U.S. federal agency also circulated a decree called the Accredited Third-Party Certification. It establishes a new program for the accreditation of third-party organization also called as auditors. It is then the duty of the auditors to perform food safety inspection to the overseas food resource.
With these set of statutes, produce farmers and importers of food are expected to apply the necessary steps to prevent some complication before it happens.
In a statement, Michael R. Taylor explained the necessity of implementing the new set of safety rules in the U.S.
"The FDA is working with partners across the government and industry to prevent foodborne outbreaks. The rules will help better protect consumers from foodborne illness and strengthen their confidence that modern preventive practices are in place, no matter where in the world the food is produced," stated by the FDA deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine.
Taylor cited the example of the recent outbreak of Salmonella which was caused by some imported cucumbers. The incident resulted to the death of four Americans and the hospitalization of 157 individuals. According to the commissioner, the new rules will help to prevent the said type of outbreaks.
FDA is a federal agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. One of the primary responsibilities of the said agency is to ensure the safety and security of the country's food supply.
