Food and beverage employees on the front line need
to remain safe and healthy to continue
to bring the food and beverage supply
to the masses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a press release issued by the FDA, the agency is postponing most foreign inspections through April, effective immediately, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Inspections outside the U.S. deemed mission-critical will still be considered on a case-by-case basis.
In an effort to allow FDA to sample water, soil and environmental conditions on USDA-regulated concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), New York Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand introduced a bill that would provide the FDA authority to conduct microbial sampling on CAFOs as necessary for a foodborne illness outbreak investigation, determine the outbreak’s root cause or address other public health needs.
The FDA has issued final guidance to help manufacturers of packaged foods comply with the updated Nutrition Facts labeling regulations, which addresses serving sizes of foods, including single-serving foods and other foods that can reasonably be consumed at one eating occasion and require dual-column labeling.
E. coli tests of romaine fields where investigators traced contaminated lettuce did not turn up outbreak strains, so the FDA will move to an in-depth “root-cause” investigation for three outbreaks.
New chapters and sections of the Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, including the updated 21 CFR Part 123—Fish and Fishery Products, were updated by the FDA in August.
The FDA recently held a hearing designed to include information and views related to the safety of cannabis edibles and beverages—with a strong emphasis on cannabidiol (CBD) ingredients—as well as to solicit input relevant to the agency's regulatory strategy for existing products.
Many processors have grown more sophisticated at compiling information and presenting it when inspectors ask for proof that a facility's food safety management system is working. But no matter the companies’ size or record management methods, they likely experience some of the common deficiencies that experts see.
FDA intends to exercise this enforcement discretion to provide industry with greater flexibility when labeling food products, including those formulated to reduce sodium content.