New Food Safety Rules Proposed By FDA

New Food Safety Rules Proposed By FDA

A new set of food safety rules that are meant to prevent food-related sickness was proposed by federal regulators recently. Under the new rules, deadly bacteria should be kept out of vegetable and fruit farms, and more stringent monitoring will be implemented.

All aspects in the growth and harvest of produce will be covered in the new food safety rules. Lettuce and cantaloupe, which were among the sources of outbreaks in the past, will be covered in the rules that were proposed by the Food and Drug Administration. Standard procedures will also be implemented that will prevent bacteria from entering facilities using raw crops to produce food items.

The FDA will collect input from the public before the new food safety rules will be ready for implementation. The new rules indicate a policy shift from the monitoring of outbreaks after they happen to disease prevention.

According to Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods of the FDA, the new food safety rules establish the essential standards in food safety.

Since the US Department of Agriculture oversees meat safety, poultry, beef and other meat production will not be affected by the new food safety rules.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that around 48 million people are affected each year by food-related sickness. Around 3,000 of the affected individuals die each year. However, Taylor indicated that a reduction may be observed once the new food safety rules are implemented.

A salmonella outbreak affected over two hundred individuals last summer. The salmonella outbreak was discovered in cantaloupes produced in a farm in Indiana. Thirty-three people were killed due to a listeria contamination that affected a cantaloupe farm in Colorado.

Following the outbreaks in recent years, health advocates have urged the FDA to release of new food safety rules.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday January 06 2013, 5:37 AM EST. Ref: WSJ. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0