The+Reportable+Food+Registry

Food safety- Recent News- National food safety month: September Its stated purpose is to provide a "reliable mechanism to track patterns of adulteration in food." · From now on, facilities that "manufacture, process or hold food for consumption in the United States" must report to the FDA through the registry within 24 hours of finding a "reasonable probability that an article of food will cause severe health problems or death to a person or animal." Bacterial contamination, allergen mislabeling or elevated levels of certain chemical components are among the reasons for reporting potentially dangerous products to the FDA. · Reason for this registry: Remember the alleged actions of the Peanut Corporation of America? Earlier this year, the FDA revealed that the now-defunct Lynchburg, Va., company knowingly shipped salmonella-tainted peanut products 12 times between 2007 and 2008 from its Blakely, Ga., facility. This led to one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history and at least nine deaths. · The reporting requirement applies to all foods and animal feed regulated by the FDA, except infant formula and dietary supplements, which are covered by other regulatory requirements. Some examples of reasons a food may be reportable include bacterial contamination, allergen mislabeling or elevated levels of certain chemical components. · The opening of the RFR electronic portal reflects a fundamental principle of the President’s Food Safety Working Group that “preventing harm to consumers is our first priority.” The requirements apply to any person who has to submit registration information to the FDA for a food facility that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food for human or animal consumption in the United States. These people are termed responsible parties. A responsible party: A responsible party is not required to report if it found the problem before the food was shipped, and corrected the problem or destroyed the food.
 * The Reportable Food Registry**- mandated by a law signed by Pres. Bush in 2007
 * 1) Must investigate the cause of the adulteration if the adulteration of food may have originated with the responsible party
 * 2) Must submit initial information; followed by supplemental reports
 * 3) Must work with the FDA authorities to follow up as needed