FDA Establishes Global Traceability Requirements for Food Safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced an unprecedented advancement in foodborne illness prevention through the finalization of a traceability rule to more effectively trace contaminated food through the food supply, whether sourced in the United States or abroad.
The final rule establishes additional traceability recordkeeping requirements for those that manufacture, process, pack or hold certain foods, including fresh leafy greens, nut butters, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and ready-to-eat deli salads. In collaboration with industry, the FDA will be able to more rapidly and effectively identify the origin and route of travel of certain contaminated foods to prevent or mitigate foodborne illness outbreaks, address credible threats of serious adverse health consequences or death, and minimize overly broad advisories or recalls that implicate unaffected food products.
“This rule lays the foundation for even greater end-to-end food traceability across the food system that we’re working on as part of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative,” said Frank Yiannas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response. “This standardized, data-driven approach to traceability recordkeeping helps create a harmonized, universal language of food traceability that will help pave the way for industry to adopt and leverage more digital, interoperable and tech-enabled traceability systems both in the near term and the future.”
Foods subject to the final rule requirements appear on the Food Traceability List. To determine which foods should be included on the FTL, the FDA developed a risk-ranking model for food tracing based on the factors that Congress identified in Section 204 of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. These foods include fresh leafy greens, melons, peppers, sprouts, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and tropical tree fruits, as well as shell eggs, nut butters, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, ready-to-eat deli salads, cheeses (other than hard cheese), finfish and crustaceans.
The FDA released a proposed rule in 2020 and held a public comment period where comments were received from food producers and other stakeholders through early 2021. In response, the agency has made several changes to the final rule so that it better aligns with current industry approaches to food traceability and harmonizes points in the supply chain where records must be maintained.
Key features of the final rule include:
- Critical Tracking Events: at specific points in the supply chain – such as harvesting, cooling, initial packing, receiving, transforming, and shipping FTL foods – records containing Key Data Elements are required.
- Traceability Plan: information essential to help regulators understand an entity’s traceability program. These include a description of the procedures used to maintain required records, descriptions of procedures used to identify foods on the FTL, descriptions of how traceability lot codes are assigned, a point of contact for questions regarding the traceability plan and a farm map for those that grow or raise a food on the FTL.
- Additional Requirements: maintenance of records as original paper or electronic records, or true copies; providing requested records to the FDA within 24 hours of a request (or within a reasonable time to which the FDA has agreed); and providing records in an electronic sortable spreadsheet when necessary to assist the FDA during an outbreak, recall or other threat to public health.
Foodborne illness affects millions of Americans each year. Today’s action progresses the agency’s commitment to better protect the public by ensuring a safe and wholesome food supply. Enhanced recordkeeping requirements for FTL foods will allow for faster identification and rapid removal of potentially contaminated food from the market, ultimately resulting in fewer foodborne illnesses and deaths.
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USDA Invests $21.6M to Develop Transformative Agricultural Solutions
U.S. Department of Agriculture Chief Scientist Chavonda Jacobs-Young announced an investment of $21.6 million in scientific research for small businesses to further develop transformative agricultural solutions.
“Small businesses, particularly rural and agricultural enterprises, play a vital role in the American economy. They embody the entrepreneurial spirit that America was built upon,” said Jacobs-Young, who is also USDA’s Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. “This latest investment strengthens federal research and development support for small businesses, including women- and minority-owned businesses, and enhances USDA’s efforts to rapidly scale innovation across the food supply chain.”
This investment for transformative agricultural solutions is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Small Business Innovation Research program that targets early-stage private-sector projects. Grant funding will support 34 research projects that propose innovative and disruptive solutions on topics ranging from food science and nutrition to natural resources conservation.
“The projects we’re supporting demonstrate scientific originality, technical feasibility and strong commercial potential,” said Acting NIFA Director Dr. Dionne Toombs. “With this research, our small business partners are helping solve some of our most vexing agricultural problems.”
The agricultural solutions grants are supporting businesses across the country, from Washington to New York. Examples of funded projects include:
- Improperly cleaned soft-serve ice cream machines can be a source of contamination and foodborne illnesses. Inventherm of Baton Rouge, La., is developing commercial soft serve ice cream and slush machines that use a novel, more cost-efficient sanitizing process. The new process eliminates contamination and will save machine owners thousands of dollars annually. This Phase II funding will allow an advanced prototype to be built and brought to the commercial market.
- When wildfires rage, it’s important to be able to predict their behavior in real time. Hangar Alpha LLC of New York, N.Y., has developed real-time predictive tools for fire behavior. These tools will help with cost-saving planning and prevention measures, and proper allocation of resources as a fire is occurring. This funding will allow the company to rapidly develop and commercially produce predictive fire analytics for the public sector and expand into the tech-forward private sector.
- The pear industry faces significant issues delivering ready-to-eat fruits to consumers. Mirtech Inc. of North Brunswick, N.J., has developed a “dual-regulator system” that will provide new market opportunities otherwise unavailable to the pear industry due to consumer dissatisfaction with either over-ripening or under ripening of pears. The system will not only provide “ready-to-eat ripeness” at the retail level, but will add 10 to 12 days of shelf life to benefit both retailers and consumers.
View the complete list of the 34 funded Small Business Innovation Research projects:
- Forests and Related Resources (2 awards, $1,299,734)
- Plant Production and Protection (Biology) (1 award, $650,000)
- Animal Production and Protections (3 awards, $1,899,999)
- Conservation of Natural Resources (5 awards, $3,249,849)
- Food Science and Nutrition (5 awards, $3,192,035)
- Rural and Community Development (4 awards, $2,498,235)
- Aquaculture (3 awards, $1,889,445)
- Biofuels and Biobased Products (3 awards, $1,950,000)
- Small and Mid-Size Farms (4 awards, $2,499,790)
- Plant Production and Protection (Engineering) (4 awards, $2,549,665)
NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research, education and Extension across the nation to make transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA supports initiatives that ensure the long-term viability of agriculture and applies an integrated approach to ensure that groundbreaking discoveries in agriculture-related sciences and technologies reach the people who can put them into practice. In FY 2022, NIFA’s total investment was $2.2 billion.
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USDA Invests $24M for Beginner Farmers, Ranchers
U.S. Department of Agriculture Chief Scientist Chavonda Jacobs-Young announced a nearly $24 million investment across 45 organizations and institutions that teach and train beginning farmers and ranchers.
“Investing in the professional development of our nation’s newest farmers and ranchers will help our food and agriculture sectors to flourish from the ground up,” said Jacobs-Young, who is also USDA’s Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. “Strengthening and growing our next generation pipeline is vital to the continued success of American agriculture and prosperity of rural communities.”
This investment is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program that supports a wide range of professional development activities across an array of important topics for new farmers and ranchers, such as managing capital, acquiring and managing land, and learning effective business and farming practices.
“We recognize that beginning farmers and ranchers have unique needs for education, training and technical assistance. Their success, especially in the first 10 years, often hinges on access to reliable, science-based information and the latest educational resources so they can improve their operations’ profitability and sustainability long-term,” said NIFA Acting Director Dr. Dionne Toombs. “This investment will benefit a rising generation of beginning farmers and ranchers that truly reflect the tapestry of American agriculture and the many diverse communities we serve.”
NIFA’s BFRDP funds three types of projects:
- Standard Projects to new and established local and regional training, education, outreach and technical assistance initiatives that address the unique local and regional needs of beginning farmers and ranchers.
- Educational Team Projects to develop seamless beginning farmer and rancher education programs by conducting evaluation, coordination, and enhancement activities for Standard Projects and other non-funded beginning farmer programs.
- Curriculum and Training Clearinghouse to make educational curricula and training materials available to beginning farmers and ranchers and organizations who directly serve them.
Examples of the 45 newly funded BFRDP projects for FY 2022 include:
- Corporacion Juvenil Para El Desarrollo de Comunidades Sosten: This project will increase the number of farmers and ranchers through a strong recruitment program to include socially disadvantaged farmers/ranchers/veterans in Puerto Rico. It will provide services in entrepreneurship, business training, technical assistance, and natural resource management. ($676,133)
- Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust: This project will focus on outreach and individualized educational services, as well as technical assistance, to increase understanding of sound business practices among Black Indigenous People of Color beginning farmers. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge in business planning, financial literacy, and soil health among BIPOC beginning farmers. This project will foster collaboration with underserved producers in New England. ($524,040)
- Federation of Southern Cooperatives: This project will cooperatively mentor new and beginning farmers and ranchers in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina for regional markets. Impacts will include greater climate-smart agricultural knowledge and practices; and training on land tenure, continuity of family farming operations, stronger farm and forest management, income-earning strategies, estate planning, farm or business plan implementation, and aggregation of small-scale landowners through cooperative development. ($750,000)
NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research, education, and Extension across the nation to make transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA supports initiatives that ensure the long-term viability of agriculture and applies an integrated approach to ensure that groundbreaking discoveries in agriculture-related sciences and technologies reach the people who can put them into practice. In FY2022, NIFA’s total investment was $2.2 billion.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.
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