With the final rules yet to come, food and beverage processors are gearing up for the expected requirements while implementing the systems they hope will make them compliant.
FDA's report offered proof of the growing number of incidents of malicious and non-malicious food contamination worldwide. It stated: "If an unintentional contamination of one food, such as clams, can affect 300,000 individuals, a concerted, deliberate attack on food could be devastating, especially if a more dangerous chemical, biological, or radio-nuclear agent were used." Such an incident would also have an enormous economic impact, since one in eight Americans' occupation is directly linked to food production.