Food manufacturing businesses must comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)—the biggest food safety reform in seven decades, which affects the way our foods are grown, harvested and processed.

One of the most common causes of allergen recalls is the use of the wrong package or wrong label on a container. It is imperative that food processors make sure that the correct label is placed on each and every product, especially for foods with allergens.

FDA has finalized guidance to help facilities determine their business size under the Preventive Controls for Human Food and Preventive Controls for Animal Food rules issued in response to the FSMA.

Michael Taylor, former deputy commissioner for food for FDA and present co-chair of the Stop Foodborne Illness Board, suggested that in spite of all the technology, collaboration and education to improve food safety, crisis management still drives changes.

Food defense is now an integral element in almost all third-party audit schemes, in particular ones from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

Food processors have a mandate to ensure that they have someone with a new title on board: the preventive controls qualified individual, or PCQI.

The enactment of the Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation has profoundly affected the food processing industry in the United States and throughout the world.

The idea of preventive controls is not process-centric, but risk based. And its principles are not new concepts.

According to FSMA, each processor must have a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI). This person is responsible for developing the food safety program, ensuring the controls are validated, reviewing records and reassessing the plan.