Posted May 23, 2014
On
Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an additional 60
days for public comment on its sanitary transportation rule under the Food
Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), proposed in February, according to an article
by Farm Futures available here. A
recent post on the subject from this blog is available here.
The
proposed rule would require certain shippers, receivers, and carriers, who
transport food by motor or rail vehicles, to take preventative measures against
the contamination of human and animal food during transportation. The rule
would also establish criteria for sanitary transportation practices properly
such as refrigerating food, cleaning vehicles between loads, and protecting
food during transportation.
The
proposal exempts the transportation of fully packaged shelf-stable foods, live
food animals, and raw agricultural commodities when transported by farms, but
does cover animal feeds.
The
extension approval was a result of requests from a variety of groups, including
the United Fresh Produce Association, the Agricultural Retailers Association,
National Grain and Feed Association, and National Oilseed Processors
Association.
The
FDA has already held three public meetings on the rule, which can be accessed here, and comments can
be made to the Federal Register docket here.
For
more information on food safety, please visit the National Agricultural Law
Center’s website here.
