The FDA just announced that the Reportable Food Registry (RFR), which was part of a bill signed into law in 2007, is scheduled to be implemented on September 8, 2009.

The RFR requires a "responsible party" (defined as the person who submits the registration to the FDA for a food facility that manufactures, processes, packs or holds food for human or animal consumption in the United States) to file a report though an FDA internet portal when there is reason to believe that an adulterated food will cause serious adverse heath consequences or death to humans or animals.  The RFR applies to all FDA regulated food.

The draft guide answers questions including:

• Who must submit RFR reports of adulterated foods to FDA,
• How, when and where RFR reports may be submitted,
• What information the RFR reports must include, and
• What steps must be taken to notify others in the supply chair of the adulterated food.

Click Here to see the draft guidence.  The FDA has requested comments on its draft guidence my August 12, 2009.  Please contact Julia Bellinger, jbellinger@astaspice.org if you have any questions.

ASTA sends letter to Capitol Hill expressing concerns with the traceability and country of origin labeling requirements in H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.

June 2009: The Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Henry Waxman, introduced a food safety bill, H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 that is on a fast track.  It contains a variety of problematic provisions for the spice and food industry, including fees.  ASTA signed on to an industry letter that explains our concerns with the fees.  Click here to view the letter.

FDA Economic Adulteration Meeting

Asta recently attended a one-day meeting at the FDA on economically motivated adulteration.  The purpose of the meeting was to "stimulate and focus a descission about ways in which the food, drug, medical device and cosmetic industries, regulatory agencies and other parties can better predict and prevent economically motivated adulteration, with a focus on situations that pose the greatest public health risk."  There is a Federal Register notice on this issue with a request for comments due August 1st, 2009.  FDA proposed a working definition of economically motivated adulteration (EMA), "as the fraudulent, intentional substitution or addition of a substance in a product for the purpose of increasing the apparent value of the product or reducing the cost of its production, i.e., for economic gain.  EMA includes dilution of products with increased quantities of an already-present subsctance (e.g., increasing inactive ingredients of a drug with a resulting reduction in strength of the finished product, or watering down of juice) to the extent that such dilution poses a known or possible health risk to consumers, as well as the addition or substitution of substances in order to mask dilution.

Meeting speakers included FDA officials, academics, pharmacy industry representatives, and representatives from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), American Feed Industry Association, National Fisheries Institute, Pet Food Institute, American Herbal Products, and consumer groups.  Many of the groups, including GMA, urged greater regulatory oversight and vigilance from the FDA on the identification and prosecution of individuals committing economic adulteration.  For more information, Click here

Side-By-Side Comparison of 2009 Food Safety Legislation

The above link is a detailed side-by-side analysis of the key food safety bills introduced in the House and Senate that will likely be debated in the coming months.

ASTA Congratulated for Role in Food Safety Bill

When Senator Durbin (D-IL) introduced the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, S. 510, he wrote, "I thank Senators Kennedy, Dodd, Klobuchar, Burr, Alexander, and Chambliss for joining me in this effort.  I also want to thank the consumer, public health, and industry groups who have helped us craft a strong bill for their support: Consumer Federation of America, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumers Union, Trust for America's Health, Grocery Manufacturers of America, American Feed Industry Association, American Frozen Food Institute, National Fisheries Institute, and the American Spice Trade Association."

ASTA has worked with Senator Durbin's office for the last two years on food safety issues and legislation and will continue to work with him and other policy makers throughout the year.

Letter to Senator Durbin in Support of His Proposed Food Safety Legislation