The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized a new food safety rule that will help prevent food contamination during transportation. Depending on the business size, compliance dates begin as soon as one year after publication in the Federal Register. Under this rule, anyone transporting human and animal food—including shippers, loaders, carriers and receivers— must follow sanitary transportation procedures, such as properly refrigerating food, ensuring vehicles are sufficiently cleaned between loads and protecting food during transportation. While the final rule is still being reviewed, it would appear that the produce industry is already well positioned to comply.
This is the sixth of seven regulations to be finalized under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which aims to advance FDA’s efforts to protect foods from farm to table. A pre-publication version is currently available online at the Federal Register.
On April 25, the FDA will be hosting a webinar to discuss key pieces of this rule.
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For more information, contact Ken Gilliland at (949) 885-2267.