The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is extending the comment period by 15 days to allow stakeholders more time to provide input on the New Era of Smarter Food Safety. The comment period was set to close on November 20th, 30 days after the October 21st public meeting on this new approach that FDA is planning to take to strengthen its protection of the food supply.

The comment period will now close on December 5, 2019 in response to requests for additional time to submit comments.

Comments can be submitted electronically to the Federal Register (Docket Number: FDA-2019-N-4187) or in writing to:

Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061
Rockville, MD 20852

The input received at the public meeting, and in comments submitted to the accompanying Federal Register docket, will help shape an FDA Blueprint for a New Era of Smarter Food Safety. The agency intends for the blueprint to outline how this new approach will address public health challenges, including being able to trace sources of contaminated foods and using new predictive analytics tools like artificial intelligence to assess risks and prioritize the agency’s work and resources.

FDA is working toward enhancing its ongoing efforts to implement the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act by creating a more digital, traceable, and safer system to help protect consumers from contaminated food.