FDA Voice Is Speaking Loud And Clear On FSMA Implementation
By Laurel Maloy, contributing writer, Food Online
The FDA is setting a sterling example when it comes to transparency and public engagement
The FDA is utilizing the blog-o-sphere to market its new food safety strategies and to engage with anyone and everyone who has a stake in food safety. Key players ranging from Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of the FDA, to Sherri McGarry, Senior Advisor, Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network (CORE) Office of Foods, have written and published a blog. Michael R. Taylor. J.D., Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine with the FDA, has been the most prolific author, publishing 15 different blog articles since Dec 2011.
In Let’s Keep Talking — and Listening — About Food Safety, Taylor emphasizes the importance of preventive controls, the foundation for FSMA. He talks about the meetings he has had with local and regional farmers and expounds on the incredible value of the public meetings. Taylor consistently encourages feedback from all food safety stakeholders and speaks of a 15 year old girl who nearly died from eating tainted spinach. In fact, Rylee Gustafson spoke at one of the public meetings in Portland, OR on FSMA’s proposed produce safety rule.
Do you know what constitutes a good FDA audit?
In Your Input is Bringing Change to Food Safety Rules, Taylor talks about how his team visited nearly 20 states, as well as locations in Mexico and Europe, to meet with farmers and food producers. Taylor acknowledges the complexity of the produce safety rule and its ultimate impact on operations of all sizes. His team met with Amish farmers, organic producers, coalitions of consumer groups, and any other stakeholders who wished to be involved or informed. Transparency is Taylor’s theme song while his commitment to FSMA’s ideal is unwavering.
Finally, his most recent blog is in collaboration with Howard Sklamberg, FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy. We’re Reinventing Ourselves to Keep Your Food Safe summarizes what has been done so far toward FSMA implementation. Describing it as a “Comprehensive overhaul of our food safety system,” Taylor touches on the three themes that are the basis for FSMA. He talks of the progress to date and of setting the foundation for the next phase — implementation. Taylor also shares a document published on May 2, 2014, outlining the operational strategy for implementing FSMA. In this document he specifies those agencies, by name, at both the work planning and operational levels, that will be crucial to an integrated and collaborative effort.
It is abundantly clear that Taylor and the FDA have taken our nation’s focus on food safety seriously. You can’t help but be amazed by the breadth and scope of the wide-ranging changes taking place now and in the future. However, the one big question remains: Will the FDA receive the funds necessary to effectively implement FSMA? In February of this year, Taylor testified before Congress, asking for more funding. Congress’ answer was less than encouraging.