Food safety rules standardized by FDA

Under the new food safety rules finalized by the US Food and Drug Administration, farmers and importers are responsible for making sure that their produce are not affected by any outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. The FDA has released a new set of rules to make sure that contaminated food is kept away from all U.S. households, Healthday reports. This is in response to the wide-ranging outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and was developed as a result of the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act. This is also one of the biggest reforms made in food safety laws in the last 70 years.

According to FDA deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine Michael Taylor, "These rules, for the first time, establish enforceable safety standards of production and harvesting of produce, and make importers accountable for the safety of the food they bring into the United States."

The Wall Street Journal reports that for the first time, this produce rule sets federal standards for how fruits and vegetables move from land to table--from growth, to harvest, packaging, and storing. Farmers are now tasked to test the water they use to raise crops to make sure it is clean and bacteria-free. Farmers and workers are also required to partake in hygiene practices and an inspection of farmlands. Under this new policy, importers will be held responsible for making sure that all their imports meet the U.S. safety standards for food and make sure that their suppliers are carefully audited at processing facilities.

"FDA is engaging in regulatory activity where we haven’t done it before," Taylor explained. He said that these new rules help carry out the "farm-to-table comprehensive system of prevention."

He added that, "The recent multistate outbreak of Salmonella in imported cucumbers that has killed four Americans, hospitalized 157 and sickened hundreds more, is exactly the kind of outbreak these rules can help prevent."

NBC News reports that according to Sandra Eskin, director of food safety research at the Pew Charitable Trusts, "For the first time these rules are going to require producers, growers and importers to ensure that the food they produce or import has minimal contamination...[These rules] bring us much closer to a safer food system."

Taylor also explained that the new rules will help "fund our state partners to work with farmers on produce safety, provide technical assistance to small farms and food businesses, and successfully implement the new import system that U.S. consumers deserve and Congress envisioned."

To find out more about food safety, log on to Foodsafety.gov.