[AIB: Up Front] The Food Protection Plan

Last November, FDA released a Food Protection Plan that provides a glimpse of what food processors can expect from regulators in months to come. There are several key elements to this plan that food companies can begin implementing now.

First, more corporate responsibility is expected. FDA cannot fully protect our food supply or provide confidence in it without participation from food processors and their partners.

The plan combines unintentional and intentional events, or food safety and food defense. The threat of intentional acts against our food supply is real and cannot be forgotten. Food and agriculture are very real targets that Americans seem to forget or dismiss since we have not had a large number of incidents.

Another key issue is communication about risk and recall and our ability to trace and track products within domestic and international supply chains. The Food Protection Plan asks for additional authority for intervention and re-registration of facilities.

FDA also is considering partnering with other government agencies and private groups to strengthen its inspection capabilities. Along with state and other federal agencies, the FDA suggests that accredited third-party inspections can strengthen its reach.

Though politics will play a role in FDA’s success at achieving these proposals, change is on the horizon and it is important that you understand the future. With an aging population and changing lifestyles, a new look at how we protect our food supply is certainly necessary.

I am concerned that the food industry has slipped behind a mask of programs and schemes. On several occasions, upper management members have indicated to me that they have HACCP plans so they don’t need to worry about food safety. These same people who assume they are protected by HACCP often cut budgets and reduce spending or resources only to find that poor GMP compliance and poor Hazard Analysis have led to failure.

Another issue is the lack of training for employees responsible for complying with GMPs and prerequisite programs. I see fewer and fewer corporate employees who can provide sanitation, pest control, maintenance and engineering support for company facilities. Companies fill corporate roles with people who have little operational experience and specialize in scheme-type audits. Audits and inspections are both important; without both we will fail.

The plan stresses the importance of inspections. FDA is concerned we have become complacent with audits and is stressing the need to verify and validate through inspections. A few years ago, FDA implied that employee training was the most important step we could take to ensure success and compliance. I suspect, in the Food Protection Plan, they are reiterating that training and awareness on the floor, improved self-inspections, and knowledgeable staff who understand the foundations of food safety and GMPs are critical for success.

In order to increase effectiveness, reduce program failures and fully protect our food supply, food companies need employees who understand plant operations, including proper chemical usage, design criteria that ensures safe food production, components of an effective pest management program, and critical maintenance and operational issues. Facilities need someone on the floor who is trained to identify possible failures before they happen.

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X-ray: Dispelling the Myths, Unleashing the Potential, was written by Nick Bridger, technical director for Mettler Toledo-Safeline, and contains valuable information on a technology with applications in the food safety industry.

The author is Vice President of Food Safety Education, AIB International.