Extension Communications
Extension 4-H Youth Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3630
(515) 294-9915
|
|
Extension Communications |
12/8/04
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Sam Beattie, Food Science and Human Nutrition, (515)-294-3357, beatties@iastate.edu
Diane Nelson, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515)-294-3178,
dinelson@iastate.edu
New Food Records Law
AMES, Iowa--Full documentation of the flow of food from the farm to the consumer is now required. The new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations require persons who manufacture, process, pack, transport, distribute, receive, hold or import food to establish and maintain records as a way to protect the food supply from acts of terrorism.
"These records will identify the immediate previous source of all food received and the immediate subsequent recipient of all food released," said Sam Beattie, Iowa State University Extension specialist in food science. "An important aspect of this regulation is that transporters of food also are required to keep records."
Officials say the records will help give rapid and accurate identification of foods and where they have been distributed in the case of a tampering incident. Human food records will be kept for six months to two years depending on the shelf life of the food. Records for animal food, including pet food, must be retained for one year. The maximum record retention requirement for transporters of all types of food is one year.
"All food businesses impacted by this rule must comply within a designated time depending on company size," Beattie said.
For most businesses that employ over 500 employees, compliance must be within
12 months after the rule is published in the Federal Register. Small businesses
(11-499 full-time employees) must comply within 18 months from this date,
and very small businesses (10 or fewer employees) have to comply within
24 months
from this date.
Farms, restaurants, and facilities that are inspected only by the United
States Department of Agriculture are excluded from the recordkeeping requirement.
Most grocery stores are not required to keep the recipient information but
must keep records showing where they received food items. Many food companies
are already keeping this information.
"For Iowa it is important to note that the FDA regulation is in effect for grain elevators, intermediate storage silos off farm, feed mills, and feed ingredient processors," Beattie said. "These are considered food by the FDA."
This regulation joins three others that have been enacted to ensure the safety and security of the food supply under the "Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002" (the Bioterrorism Act). The first required all firms that process, hold and manufacture food register with the FDA. The second required prior notice of imported foods, and the third allows for detention of food that may have been adulterated.
Additional information is available at the FDA Web site: http://www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html.
-30-