The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a proposed rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) aimed at strengthening the safety of food for animals, including pet food and animal feed. This proposed rule would help ensure the safety of food for animals, as well as help prevent foodborne illness in humans and animals.
The rule is part of the effort mandated by Congress to modernize the food safety system and focuses on preventing food safety problems, rather than relying primarily on responding to problems after they occur. The proposed rule works in concert with standards proposed in July 2013 for imported foods and the accreditation of third-party auditors for foreign food facilities.
Under the proposed rule for preventive controls for food for animals, facilities manufacturing, processing, packing and holding animal food, both domestically and abroad, would be required to put into place procedures to minimize or prevent hazards reasonably likely to occur, as well as to follow new current good manufacturing practices.
The proposed rule for preventive controls for food for animals was published in the Federal Register on October 29. Comments on this proposed rule are due by 120 days from the publication date.
The FDA will hold three public meetings on the Proposed Rule for Preventive Controls for Animal Food Facilities. The first meeting will be held on November 21, 2013 at the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in College Park, MD. The second meeting will be on November 25 at the Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago. The third meeting will be held on December 6 at the John E. Moss Federal Building in Sacramento, CA.
