The Food and Drug Administration will hold three regional workshops this summer on the new Reportable Food Registry that is scheduled to become effective September 8. These workshops will explain how the registry will work and outline the responsibilities and steps for submitting a registry report through FDA's new electronic portal.
Included as a provision in the FDA Amendments Act of 2007, the registry will impose new reporting responsibilities on food industry manufacturers and suppliers, including IDFA members. The registry is intended to improve FDA's ability to ensure the safety of the domestic food supply.
The first one-day workshop will be held July 23 in College Park, Md.; the second will be held August 5 in Chicago; and the third will be held August 25 in Oakland, Calif. Although they are public workshops, registration is encouraged. To register, visit Reportable Food Registry Public Workshops.
Clay Detlefsen, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs, will attend the initial workshop in Maryland and encourages IDFA members to attend the workshops near them, if possible.
"We've had good discussions with FDA on the registry, but there are many issues that still need to be figured out," said Detlefsen. "Strong regional participation from dairy foods manufacturers will help smooth the implementation process."
Reportable foods are defined as any food products that could cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals. This is essentially the same standard that is incorporated into the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, based on criteria for a Class I recall under FDA's recall regulation. In the case of dairy products, reportable foods would most likely be those found to contain pathogens or unlabeled allergens.
Under the law, companies are required to maintain records related to each report for two years. These records are subject to the Freedom of Information Act and open to inspection by government agencies.
For more information, contact Detlefsen at cdetlefsen@idfa.org or (202) 220-3554.