The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is called “the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years," by FDA, the agency tasked with enforcing it. Spurred by contamination of food that lead to millions of sick people and animals, FSMA aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe with proactive procedures, rather than the reactionary protocols of the past.
The law requires action from almost every company in the food supply chain, from farmers, to ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, shippers and finished goods providers. While dietary supplement manufacturers and brands are excluded from FSMA as long as they follow good manufacturing practices (GMPs), they need to ensure that their suppliers follow preventative safety controls, so they too need to understand the law and how it affects their businesses.
And companies need to act fast. Requirements of the 2011 law are about to take effect, or they have recently been implemented.
Next week, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) is hosting a webinar that promises to provide a roadmap to FSMA requirements and compliance for health and nutrition companies. The webinar “FSMA Direct Impacts to Most AHPA Members," on Thursday, Dec. 15, at 1:00 p.m. EST., includes speakers Rebecca Buckner, Ph.D., Associate Director of FSMA Operations, CFSAN / FDA; David Doty, international procurement manager, Mountain Rose Herbs; and Anthony L. Young, partner, Kleinfeld, Kaplan and Becker, LLP and AHPA General Counsel.
Topics include:
- How is FDA implementing FSMA?
- How does FSMA affect ingredient manufacturers?
- What is voluntary qualified importer program (VQIP) and who does it affect?
A 20- to 30-minute Q&A session will follow the speaker presentations to answer specific questions submitted in advance. Attendees can submit questions prior to the webinar.
The webinar is $199 for AHPA members and $499 for nonmembers.