A Conversation with Richard Ball, Joseph Corby and Erik Mettler
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) heralded a new era of enhanced collaboration between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its counterparts in state governments across the country. State officials were instrumental in providing comments to help FDA create regulations that take into account the complexities of food production and are designed to be flexible and practical while meeting the agency’s public health goals.
As FDA passes from FSMA rulemaking to implementation, the states continue to have an important role in bringing to life the FSMA mandate that the prevention of illnesses, rather than response to outbreaks, should be the cornerstone of the nation’s food safety system. This is especially true when it comes to helping FDA implement FSMA’s produce safety rule, which, for the first time, establishes enforceable safety standards for the production and harvesting of produce.
In September 2016, FDA awarded 42 states a total of $21.8 million in cooperative agreements to develop produce safety programs that will enable them to deliver education and technical assistance to farmers and provide ongoing inspection, compliance and oversight.
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