Go to IDFA Home Page
About IDFA
News Center
Member Directory
Industry Facts
Regulation and Food Safety
Legislation
Economic Analysis
International
Product Marketing
Meetings and Training
Products and Publications
Contact Us

Search
Site Map
IDFA Home Page

IDFA en Espanol 		News Center

IDFA Provides Guidance on Juice HACCP Inspections

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has significantly stepped-up its inspection of juice-processing dairy facilities to evaluate compliance with the government's mandatory juice HACCP regulation. FDA developed the regulation in 2001 in response to illness outbreaks caused primarily by unpasteurized juices, but the new rules apply to all plants that make a 100% juice beverage.

As inspections are proceeding, IDFA is hearing from members that FDA inspectors don't appear to have been adequately trained on the juice HACCP regulation and on dairy plants processing juice. This is creating a burden for dairy plant personnel, who therefore are educating FDA investigators on the regulation, as well as on processing and pasteurization operations.

IDFA has heard these comments during monthly conference calls it is hosting for members affected by the juice HACCP regulation, in order to provide direction, advice and an opportunity for members to share inspection experiences. The next IDFA-sponsored conference call will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, April 22, starting at 10:00 am EDT.

A few of the problems with FDA's juice HACCP inspections identified during the conference calls include:

  • Requesting copies of records not required by the FDA HACCP regulation.
  • Lack of knowledge and experience with dairy and juice processing equipment.
  • Demanding validation of dairy pasteurization times and temperatures for juice beverages.
  • Expecting plant's HACCP program to list milk allergens, cleaning and sanitation of processing equipment, and incoming ingredient receiving as a critical control point.
As a result of these findings, IDFA will meet with FDA on May 27 to discuss the field training inadequacies and provide some recommendations to streamline inspections.

For information on participating in tomorrow's conference call, and to view the summary of the last three conference calls, members can click here, or contact Allen Sayler at 202-220-3544 or asayler@idfa.org.

#  #   #

Posted April 21, 2003