FDA Publishes Guidelines on Coronavirus for the food industry

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has published its guidance document for food companies to address certain circumstances related to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), not to enforce requirements in three foods regulations to conduct onsite audits of food suppliers if other supplier verification methods are used instead.

Amid the passing of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), companies in the United States were mandated to increase their scrutiny of non-domestic suppliers when importing food.

FDA points out that their guidance documents do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe their current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited.

The three regulations are

• Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food (21 CFR part 117) (“part 117”) [1],
• Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Food for Animals (21 CFR part 507) (“part 507”) [2],
• Foreign Supplier Verification Programs for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals (21 CFR part 1 subpart L) (“FSVP regulation”) [3].

To read the document, click here.