GFVGA urges comments for proposed FDA produce rules

From the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association:

“FIZZ-MA” or the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has been one of the buzz phrases in the produce industry since before it passed in January of 2011. This legislation mandated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to draft and propose a myriad of regulatory rules affecting most every aspect of the food industry.

The U.S. food regulatory laws were first established with the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act is the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years. It gives the FDA broad new powers to prevent food safety problems, detect and respond to food safety issues, and improve the safety of imported foods. In other words, it aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.

Since January 2011, FDA has been drafting proposed rules in order to observe the FSMA mandates passed down by Congress. Five rules have been released for public comment and Nov. 15 is the final deadline for all comments to be submitted for two main rules affecting the produce industry, the Produce Safety Rule and the Preventative Controls Rule.

The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association will be issuing written comments for the Produce Safety Rule and the Preventative Controls Rule as well as the Foreign Supplier Verification Rule, the Accredited 3rd Party Auditors Rule, and the Animal Feed Rule. GFVGA staff have been actively engaged with national produce industry organizations such as United Fresh Produce Association and Produce Marketing Association in working with FDA to make the united voices of fruit and vegetable growers, packers and shippers heard.

“While this process sounds like it has taken a long time, it is almost going too fast.” Said Beth Oleson, GFVGA’s director of food safety. She emphasized the proposed regulations are not yet law. “Farmers and organizations must let FDA know what is correct and good in these regulations as well as where they missed the mark and how we want them to fix it,” said Oleson.

Once FDA releases the final regulations they will deeply impact the produce and food industry. According to Oleson, the time is now to speak up. “If we don’t take the time and effort to get them right, it will be nearly impossible to changed them later,” she said.