News Feature | May 12, 2015

FSMA's Preventive Controls Rule: There's No Better Time To Prepare Than Now

Source: Food Online

By Melissa Lind, contributing writer

While the FDA is preparing to issue its next final ruling for FSMA, food manufacturers and processors should already be laying the groundwork for training staff around the legislation. Though the effort needed may seem overwhelming, the food industry will be getting some help from the Food Safety Preventative Control Alliance.

In advance of the Preventative Control for Human Food rule finalization, the FDA’s Food Safety Preventative Control Alliance (FSPCA) — formed in cooperation with the Illinois Institute of Technology for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) — is working to standardize a curriculum and help the industry prepare for the rule. Funded by the FDA, the alliance was formed to assist companies with training programs, particularly small- and mid-sized companies, with limited resources.

Related: The Reality Of FSMA: Is Your Business Prepared?

The FSPCA curriculum addresses a broad subject range in food safety including:

  • Overview of food safety plans and cGMPs
  • Preventative controls, including allergens and sanitations
  • Recall plans
  • Record-keeping procedures

FSPCA draft training curriculum for Human Food safety is currently online and the group has made several presentations including a webinar hosted in March. The Alliance’s pilot training sessions started in April, will run through June, and course modifications will be incorporated into curriculum in advance of final printing. The Human Food Course will become available in November with the Animal Food Course to become available in January.

Related:  Taking The First Steps Toward FSMA Compliance

The FSPCA directives include development of an Animal Food Course, currently in process, with delivery to begin in January of 2016. A “train-the-trainer” course will be piloted in August, with final course to begin in November, along with the Human Food Course. Part of the FSPCA program will also include an online portal for training which will be operated from IFSH. The portal will be available for industry use in late 2016.

Also in preparation for finalization of the remaining FSMA rules, the FSMA training workgroup is in the process of developing the curriculum for regulatory inspector training on the Preventative Controls rule. The FDA says a staggered approach will be taken to training, beginning with large-facility investigators.

Even though assistance in training is forthcoming from FSPCA, the food industry should start working on implementation now. Waiting until the final rule comes out in late August could put food makers in jeopardy of non-compliance if implementation is not planned in advance.