The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in a teleconference last week that it will hold a public meeting in conjunction with the USDA Food Safety and Information Service (FSIS) in early December to address traceability systems for all foods, including fruits and vegetables.
The meeting will provide a venue to discuss the core elements of product tracing systems, gaps in current product tracing systems, and mechanisms to enhance product tracing systems for food in an effort to ultimately increase the speed and accuracy of traceback investigations and traceforward operations.
FDA and FSIS also intend the meeting to improve the ability of FDA and FSIS to use the information in such systems to identify the source of contamination during outbreaks of foodborne illness, and to improve the ability of all persons in the supply chain to more quickly identify food that is (or potentially is) contaminated and remove it from the market during traceforward operations.
This discussion will help FDA and FSIS determine what short and long-term steps the two agencies should take to enhance the current tracing system.
“This public meeting provides an opportunity for FDA to collaborate more closely with FSIS as well as with members of the food industry, many of whom have been making important innovations in food safety practices and technology, and all of whom bear primary responsibility for producing and marketing safe food,” said Michael R. Taylor, senior advisor to FDA’s Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD.
The United Fresh Produce Association will be present to testify at the two-day meeting and will highlight the progress made by the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) toward achieving whole-chain traceability for fresh produce, the organization said in a press release.
“United Fresh will coordinate with other PTI stakeholders in order to provide FDA with a comprehensive overview of the produce industry's efforts on traceability,” the group explained.
The meeting will take place on 9-10 December from 9 am to 5 pm in the Jefferson Auditorium of the USDA’s South Building, 1400 Independence Avenue NW in Washington DC.
No comments yet