The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday issued an update on proposed rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), stating that it will extend both the comment period on the proposed rule on mitigation strategies to protect food against intentional adulteration and the accompanying draft qualitative risk assessment, and the comment period on the designation of high-risk foods for tracing.

Specifically, the Agency said it will "soon announce a 90-day extension of the comment period for both documents [the proposed rule on mitigation strategies to protect food against intentional adulteration and the accompanying draft qualitative risk assessment] to June 30." Regarding the designation of high-risk foods for tracing, FDA will provide an extra 45 days for stakeholders to comment, extending the deadline to May 22. FDA will announce the extensions in the Federal Register and will issue CFSAN (Center for Food Safety and Nutrition) Constituent Updates to inform stakeholders.

On December 19, 2013, FDA announced that it would propose revised rule language for key provisions of the two proposed rules affecting farmers and would publish revised language in early summer 2014. This decision was based on public input that led FDA to believe that significant changes would be needed in key provisions of the proposed rule on produce safety and the proposed rule on preventive controls for human food. Because the proposed rule on current good manufacturing practice and preventive controls for food for animals is a companion rule to the proposed rule on human food, FDA is announcing that it will publish revised language for this proposed rule as well. For that reason, the comment period for the proposed rule on animal food, which ends March 31, is not being extended.

For addtional information on the proposed rules, see FSMA Rules & Guidance for Industry.