Food Retail Industry Supports FDA Release of Preventive, Risk-Based Approach to Food Safety Rules

November 13, 2015 – ARLINGTON, VA – With the release of three additional rules today impacting the food retail supply chain under the Food Safety Modernization Act, Food Marketing Institute (FMI) commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) effort to develop workable regulations with analogous resources in order to ensure the security of the food supply.

FMI Vice President of Food Safety Programs Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD, CFS, offered the following reaction to the release of the foreign supplier verification program, produce safety and third party certification of auditor rules:

“FMI continues to stress an enterprise-wide culture of food safety to not only comply with the rules, but also instill a greater sense of responsibility for food safety all along the supply chain. It’s this preventive and risk-based mentality that will help all parties coordinate under the Food Safety Modernization Act.

“The final foreign supplier verification rule will significantly impact food retailers importing products into the United States. We believe the rule should be in line with other GFSI-benchmarked schemes, like FMI’s Safe Quality Food Institute program. FDA’s rule should support rather than supplant global food safety practices.