This entry has been corrected to reflect that some of the provisions in the Food Safety Modernization Act, most significantly the preventative controls section, will be phased in over time.
Today the House passed and sent to the President for his signature a bill to overhaul the current regulations on food safety, which were established over 70 years ago. Among other things, the bill will impose new record-keeping requirements on companies, require most FDA-regulating entities to maintain food safety plans, require the FDA to develop a traceability pilot project, and give the FDA broad authority to mandate recalls, regulate food and ingredients that are imported, conduct regular inspections of facilities that produce food and impose new fees on the industry.
Some of the provisions of the new law will be effective immediately. If you are an FDA-regulated food grower, processor or seller, compliance with the new law will be critical going forward. You should consult now with your food safety and food regulatory team to determine what your business needs to do to come in compliance.