Regulatory

FSMA is supposed to bring more, and more intense, FDA inspections of domestic food facilities. But, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the FDA has some work to do to make sure that...

This week, the White House released its proposed 2019 budget. It includes both items from the 2018 budget that have not yet been enacted and new items in the form of eliminations and reductions. Let’s look at the implications...

For small businesses, the compliance date for the FSMA Preventive Controls Rule for human food was September 18, 2017. For animal food, the compliance date is September 17, 2018. FSMA defines small businesses as having fewer than 500 full-time equivalent...

Between October 2015 and September 2016, OSHA handed down a total of 2,233 citations to food manufacturers, resulting in penalties of nearly $8.5 million. Here are the industry's top 10 most-cited violations. 1. 1910.147 The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) Total citations:...

Consumers have significant health concerns about foods labeled as “bioengineered” (BE)  according to new research from the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation. The BE labels were recently proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and if adopted,...

December 14 update: The FCC voted to repeal net neutrality protections by a 3-2 vote. On December 14, the FCC is expected to vote on a measure that eliminates net neutrality. This move could have dire consequences for everyone who uses...

The FDA announced today that the agency does not intend to enforce certain provisions of FSMA, at least until additional rulemaking can take place. The enforcement discretion applies to four rules: Preventive Controls (PC) for Human Food Preventive Controls...

More than 20% of food facilities have lost their FDA registrations, according to a recent report by Registrar Corp. This is likely because the facilities failed to renew their registrations by the December 31, 2018, deadline. All domestic and foreign...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today provided local food service professionals the flexibility they need to serve wholesome, nutritious, and tasty meals in schools across the nation. The new School Meal Flexibility Rule, published today, makes targeted...

This August, new amendments to the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, aka Proposition 65, will be in force. The law requires companies to label products with warnings if they contain any of the chemicals...