FDA Final Ruling
Okt 28, 2005
A final ruling from the FDA requires all manufacturers to register to ensure that the country's food supply remains safe from attack. The regulation, announced end September by the US departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, is one of five regulations issued by the agency to implement the Bioterrorism Act.
"This rule is one of our critical tools for safeguarding the American food supply. By finalizing this rule, we now have another important safeguard in our ongoing efforts to make sure that human and animal foods are protected from a deliberate or accidental act of contamination," said acting FDA commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach.
"Together, these regulations increase the safety and security of the US food supply and better protect Americans from a deliberate act of contamination of the food supply," said the agency.
The new law permits the FDA to quickly locate food processors in the event of deliberate or accidental contamination of the food supply. Except for specific exemptions, the registration requirements apply to all facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food. That includes animal feed, dietary supplements, infant formula, beverages and food additives.
Other rules issued under the authority of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 concern the requirement of food companies to keep records that would allow FDA to conduct an effective and efficient investigation to protect the US human food and animal feed supply.
It was noted that, if companies are unable to trace and isolate the source of a possible food contamination problem within 24 to 48 hours, the potential of serious problems increases exponentially.
According to a Stanford University report published April this year, the US milk supply chain is still too vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Researchers Yifan Liu and Lawrence Wein found that around 10g of botulinum toxin released into central milk storage tanks would be enough to poison almost half a million people. The report criticized the Food and Drug Administration for not imposing stricter regulations on the food and drink industry generally.
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