Local authorities have been managing high volumes of overdue inspections accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite some workforce growth, backlog issues persisted in 2024.
Advances in AI offer promising opportunities to strengthen food manufacturers' internal compliance efforts with FDA requirements. While FDA has issued written guidances on AI, primarily for drug and medical device companies, its direct application to food safety is still evolving.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Dr. Lane Highbarger, President of Highbarger Consulting LLC and former Regulatory Specialist and lead microbiologist in FDA's Office of Food Additive Safety, about his thoughts on the recent FDA workforce cuts instigated by the Trump Administration, and how these cuts may impact the agency's ability to ensure safe food for consumers.
FDA has released for public comment its proposed method for ranking chemicals in the food supply that will be prioritized in post-market safety assessments.
Entities across the entire food and beverage supply chain need to be prepared for compliance with state-specific EPR and stewardship programs as well as recyclability and recycled content requirements for food packaging
Efforts are underway to create a patchwork of new state-specific extended producer responsibility (EPR) and stewardship programs, recycling requirements, and minimum post-consumer recycled (PCR) content requirements that apply to packaging materials used for food and beverage products. Entities across the entire food and beverage supply chain may be implicated and need to be prepared for compliance.