When Congress first addressed food safety issues, it focused on the food processing sector such as the meat processing industry (see Meat Inspection Act of 1906). At the time, Congress defined “adulterated” and “mislabeled” foods and banned the sale of those foods. Congress has also demanded that meat processing be monitored continuously. Since then, Congress has refined government oversight of the food processing sector. This page presents a variety of legal issues affecting the food processing sector. No facility shall be constructed and no substantial changes or additions shall be made until detailed plans and specifications for such design, alteration or addition have been submitted to and approved by the regulatory authority. Another legal requirement is that food businesses keep records of the production, processing, packaging, distribution, receiving, storage or importation of food. The purpose is to help determine if something happened to the food or was manufactured to the food that would make it unsafe (i.e. adulterated). As a result, businesses must keep records and can be accessed by government agencies.
Comment: Note the explicit mention of deliberate attacks on the grocery store. Submitted reports are received by the FDA, which investigates and responds to the reported incident. The FDA reviews and evaluates the information submitted to determine whether there is a reasonable likelihood that use or exposure to a food will result in serious adverse consequences to human or animal health or death. The FDA will then issue a warning or notification when it deems it necessary and will exercise other food safety agencies to protect public health. A substance that does not reach the GRAS level is treated as a food additive. Of course, if the company is not sure that its cleaning, inspection and regular sampling equipment can be dismantled quickly and easily, it is obliged to formally list this information. The other general prohibition in U.S. food law – mislabeling – can also result from food packaging. One of the first concerns was that food was packaged in a way that misled the consumer, for example by masking the quantity in the container or not filling it.
Proper filling is necessary to prevent the food from being considered “mislabelled”. See 21 CFR 100,100. Note that some claims are relevant to a staple food, such as “reduced”; while other claims are absolute, such as “fat-free”. As a result, standards set expectations either in the form of a comparison or in absolute terms. Using these examples, “reduced fat” means that there is at least 25% less fat per serving than an appropriate reference or staple food, while “fat-free” means that a serving contains less than 0.5 grams. Substances that can be added directly or indirectly to foods are divided into several broad categories. For example, if you make food conveyor belts, you need to design with hygiene in mind. This means working with the processor to better understand their plant layout. Do they have their own space with enough space to properly disassemble and clean the conveyor belt? Are there particularly pronounced nooks and crannies that make regular hygiene difficult? Has your device been certified with a 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. seal? The last point may be a necessary step to ensure you, as a manufacturer, keep the promises you make. NSF Food Equipment Certification ensures that your equipment meets the highest regulatory standards.
Food businesses exempt from FDA registration include farms, food retailers, restaurants, non-profit food businesses, fishing vessels, and [meat and poultry] processing facilities regulated exclusively by the USDA [FSIS]. There will be violations of all the rules that food processors will have to comply with. Perhaps many of the violations are unintentional or the result of an oversight, but sometimes a violation can occur because the company manager decides to “stretch the rules.” For more information on USDA FSIS recalls, see “FSIS Food Recalls” at www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/production-and-inspection/fsis-food-recalls/fsis-food-recalls; see also “How to Develop a Meat and Poultry Recall Plan” at www.fsis.usda.gov/shared/PDF/RecallPlanBooklet_0513.pdf The GRAS notification program was proposed in April 1997 and is still ongoing but is in use. The consequence of this programme is that (1) GRAS revision efforts are not completed (but this revision process has been slow anyway and may have been a reason for this 1997 proposal) and (2) petitions for food trade regulation will not be acted upon if the notification programme progresses more rapidly. One of the problems, however, is that the monitoring of substances by the authorities is not as strict; see cspinet.org/new/201504151.html FDA enforcement relies on inspections, whether the inspection was initiated by the FDA, conducted by the FDA after being contacted by a state agency, or by the FDA after a suspected food safety issue has been attributed to the food company. The FDA`s www.fda.gov/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/RegulatoryProceduresManual/default.htm Regulatory Procedures Manual describes the FDA`s enforcement practices. All facilities, systems, processes and menus, if applicable, are assessed to determine minimum operational requirements. A copy of the request for review of the plan can be found in Appendix A.
Since 2003, “domestic and foreign entities that manufacture, process, package, or store food for human or animal consumption in the United States must register with the FDA. Domestic establishments must record whether or not food from the establishment enters interstate trade. Foreign establishments that produce/process, package or store food. before the food is exported to the United States [must be registered with the FDA]. (See Registration of Food Establishments). To better understand how you, as a food equipment manufacturer, can ensure that you, your customers, and the public are safe about your specialized equipment, let`s take a closer look at the holy grail of standards – the FDA`s Food Safety Modernization Act. The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992 contain provisions on the structure and design of hygiene. Food appliances should be equipped with smooth, durable surfaces to allow for effective cleaning and disinfection. Surfaces on which high-risk food is handled must be disinfected. It is a good practice to regularly disinfect equipment for low-risk foods.
The installation must allow cleaning. Alternatively, the equipment should be mobile to allow for proper cleaning and disinfection. The following table lists the specific requirements with some guidance on best practice and is based on information contained in the Guide to Good Hygiene Practice for the Restaurant Industry published by the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health Judicial Actions in www.fda.gov/downloads/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/RegulatoryProceduresManual/UCM074317.pdf. Food seizure, from a legal point of view, means that the government confiscates private property. As a result, the law requires the FDA to convince a court that the FDA must seize food to protect consumers from unsafe products. The following actions identify several lawsuits that the FDA can bring if it asks the courts to allow the FDA to take control of the company`s (food) property. U.S. federal law divides the food processing industry into two broad categories: meat/poultry, as monitored by the USDA`s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), and “all other food processors,” as monitored by the FDA. This categorization is mentioned throughout the discussion. In some situations, FSIS and FDA follow similar practices. In other situations, the practices of these two organizations are very different.