SafetyChain Blog

The Final Rule for Preventive Controls for Human Food is one of the main doctrines of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). It applies to any facility that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds human food. In an effort to help you become as audit-ready as possible, we’ll take a look into preventive controls compliance here.

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was the most sweeping reform of food safety law in decades. It is therefore no surprise that many food and beverage manufacturers and processors faced significant challenges in putting compliance efforts in place. In fact, many are still struggling with the added workload: not only does FSMA require a more preventive approach to managing food safety hazards, but it also places an administrative burden on many facilities due to its robust recordkeeping requirements. Many companies are therefore leveraging FSMA inspection software as a solution.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is an organization whose purpose is to enforce food safety through internationally-recognized bench-marked standards. Becoming GFSI certified helps food manufacturers and processors stay competitive, produce safer products, and improve performance in a number of key areas. If your company is considering certification in one of the GFSI schemes, the guide below may help you determine which option is best for your needs.

The Food Modernization Act (FSMA) requires U.S. food and beverage companies to proactively ensure the safety of imported food through the Foreign Supplier Rule. While most facilities already have industry best practices in place for the onboarding and management of all vendors, it is now especially critical for importers to ensure their processes are FDA-compliant. Here are three tactics which can be used to support a FSMA foreign supplier verification program (FSVP).

Vendor management is an ongoing challenge for food and beverage companies. The ability to consistently meet food safety and quality outcomes starts with high-quality ingredients and raw materials. And, this process begins by selecting vendors who are capable of meeting your robust requirements. While proper onboarding is a crucial link in the supply chain, it can be time and labor intensive. For this reason, many companies are adopting vendor onboarding software.

One of the many changes brought on by the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the way in which suppliers are managed. Specifically, the FSMA supplier verification program requires importers of food for humans and animals in the U.S. to have risk-based activities in place to ensure their materials and ingredients meet U.S. safety standards. The first compliance dates began in May of 2017, so if you’re uncertain whether your organization is fully compliant, keep reading to learn more.

Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) is a term which originates from the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The main objective of FSMA is to enforce the prevention of food safety issues proactively, instead of after they occur. Here, we focus on HARPC plans to help you determine whether your company needs to take action to become compliant.

Supplier software can be useful for companies in virtually any industry, but food manufacturers and processors are perhaps the best candidates for this unique technology. By digitizing records and using technology to communicate with suppliers, food and beverage companies can streamline and simplify all of their supplier management activities. Here are a few specific challenges which make the food and beverage industry so ideal for supplier management solutions.

Food and beverage companies under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) now face more stringent FDA traceability requirements than ever before. While compliance deadlines have come and gone, many companies still wonder if their facilities’ traceability practices leave them prepared for FDA inspections. Here, we aim to help you answer that question.

As of April 25, more than 80 people had reportedly been infected with the E. coli outbreak from romaine lettuce, with 9 developing kidney failure. At the time of press investigators still hadn’t identified a supplier or brand responsible for the outbreak, but it will only be a matter of time before the origins of the tainted lettuce come to light. As more and more brands experience similar food safety issues, it’s left experts wondering why there are still many companies that haven’t yet implemented food inspection software.