Posted July 9, 2014
The
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) asked the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to exempt dairy farms from new safety food regulations,
according to a press release available here.
Wisconsin Farmer also published an article available here
and Food Safety News here.
Last week,
the American
Feed Industry Association (AFIS) applauded the FDA’s proposal to exempt
animal food from the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) intentional
adulteration rule.
FDA is
reviewing NMPF comments on the FSMA law, which is intended to enhance the
safety protocol for foods potentially threatened by terrorists.
NMPF stated that
“activities on dairy farms should not be addressed through this rule,” due to
the challenge of predicting the “precise processing facility and type of
product or ingredient to which an individual farm’s milk is ultimately
destined.”
"We
disagree with the premise that on-farm milk destined for pasteurization is a
high-risk food,” said Beth Briczinski, NMPF’s vice-president of Dairy Foods and
Nutrition.
Some proposals
have suggested locking milk houses to prevent terrorists from intentionally
adulterating milk. State food officials have argued that locking milk houses
would prevent inspectors from doing their job, according to Wisconsin
Farmer.
However,
NMPF also stated that a plan should be developed if a threat was present.
"We would encourage FDA to adopt an approach whereby
dairy farms would have a food defense plan (a list of risk-based best
management practices) that is implemented only when a credible threat of
intentional adulteration against the milk supply is identified," said
Briczinski.
Raw milk produced for human consumption that is not
meant for pasteurization should not be exempted, noted NMPF, according to Food
Safety News.
International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and NMPF jointly
submitted comments.
A final rule on intentional adulteration will be issued on
May 31, 2016.
For more information on food safety, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
