The current campaign to require a cancer warning on alcohol containers will likely be hampered by the complex and thorny congressional action required to update the health warning statement. Nonetheless, alcohol industry members will need to carefully implement public relations, legislative, and litigation strategies to respond to this emphasis on the potential harms related to alcohol consumption.
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations represent a paradigm shift in how food is regulated in the United States to protect consumers from foodborne illness. The act and its corresponding regulations not only place more responsibility on food manufacturers, but also provide FDA with substantial new authority to use when inspecting facilities.
Plastics, paper and other packaging materials bring many benefits to the food supply chain, including sterility and prolonged shelf life. However, there is the potential for transfer of chemicals from the packaging to the food, which is why FDA regulations surrounding food contact materials exist. Understanding this legislation is key to creating effective, safe and legally compliant packaging.
The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture can cause concern in the minds of food and drug manufacturers and co-packers. Although these government agencies might be considered demanding at times, they play an important role that ensures there are procedures to protect the safety of the American public. There is an overwhelming amount of project planning and sourcing that goes on in the background of developing a product. Packaging is a large part of that process, which is also highly regulated by the FDA and USDA.