Survey Reveals Concerns About Final FSMA Rules

By Jeff Mills, Director, Product Marketing, Sage North America

The food and beverage industry — like many others — is going through consolidation, responding to changing customer demands, and facing increased federal regulation. When it comes to federal regulations, the industry is gearing up to meet the changes outlined in FMSA. This legislation is the most sweeping change in regulation to come to the food industry in decades. The FDA contends the law was put into place to help prevent food-born contamination in addition to responding to contamination after it has already occurred.

In preparation for implementation of the law, the FDA declared 2015 the year of FSMA because as the agency has delivered the first rules for preventive controls at the end of August. The final rules are scheduled for May 31, 2016.

In this challenging regulatory environment, Sage North America conducted a survey that found many food industry stakeholders are concerned about meeting the provisions of FSMA. In addition to regulators, the survey found businesses are also concerned about meeting the demands for transparency from consumers. Here are some of the survey’s additional key findings.

More than 300 attendees at the recent Natural Products West Show in Anaheim, CA — the world’s largest natural, organic, and healthy products tradeshow— were surveyed. The survey found that 48 percent of respondents cited compliance related issues (such as FMSA compliance, GMO labeling, and lot controls) as their top concern. Other challenges cited included inventory management (29 percent) and integrated accounting (20 percent).

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