Published last week in the journal Food Control, researchers from Queens University Belfast and ABF Food Group compiled a comprehensive review of food fraud terminologies and mitigation guides.
The review found guidance and terminology which could be used throughout the food industry, including guidance documents on food fraud prevention and mitigation which also touch on the supply chain.
The article, which is not open access at this time, can be accessed here.
The FDA has launched its Food Defense Plan Builder (FDPB) Version 2.0 software programme, which is a user-friendly tool, designed to help owners and operators of food facilities create a detailed food defence plan specific to their facility and products. It is designed to assist food operators with meeting the requirements of the Mitigation Strategies to Prevent Food Against Intentional Adulteration regulation (21 CFR Part 121) (IA rule). The software provides a simple-to-use, fill-in-the-blanks system that—when finished—can generate a complete report that is consistent with FDA’s existing regulations and guidance on food defence. While the finished report that the software generates does not constitute FDA approval of a food defence plan, the tool certainly goes a long way in helping a processor organise, create and document a detailed food defence program and strategy.
Read the article here
The FDA has has launched an updated version of its Food Defense Plan Builder (FDPB) to help companies meet the requirements of the Intentional Adulteration rule under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The updated FDPB has been aligned with the requirements in the Intentional Adulteration (IA) rule, so that it can be used to easily create food defence and fraud mitigation plans, and support compliance with the rule. The user friendly plan is not a legal requirement, but guides companies through the following sections:
Read the article here and obtain the FDPB plan here
The FDA has issued its second installment of how companies should take measures and mitigation strategies to protect themselves against intentional adulteration (IA rule), which is a requirement of the recent Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The draft document is out for consultation, which closes on 5 July 2019. The IA rule applies to the owner, operator, or agent in charge of a domestic or foreign food facility that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the USA. There are some exceptions including farms, except farms producing milk. Companies are required to develop/implement a food defence plan identifying vulnerabilities, and how to deal with them, and ensure they are working. The FSMA covers attacks intended to cause wide scale public health harm to humans including acts of terrorism focused on the food supply, and these are ranked as the highest risk. There is also intentional adulteration for economic gain with or without any safety implications; acts of disgruntled employees, consumers, or competitors. The IA rule is focused on addressing only acts causing wide scale public health harm, and not acts of disgruntled employees, consumers, or competitors, or acts of economic gain without public health implications.
Read the article and the FDA draft guidance.
