FDA To Release Rules To Strengthen Safety Of Food Supply
Originally published on Tue January 8, 2013 9:50 am UPDATED:
4:50 p.m. Looking for a little weekend reading? The Food and
Drug Administration has just the thing. On Friday, the agency
released two proposed rules designed to boost the safety of the
nation's food supply, encompassing hundreds of pages. One rule
covers operations at fruit and vegetable farms, focusing on
those foods that we eat raw and have been the subject of several
recent recalls, like leafy greens, tomatoes, melons, herbs,
green onions and berries. They would require worker safety
training, handwashing, clean water and monitoring the presence
of animals in the field that could spread illness. Produce
accounted for about 42 percent of all foodborne illness in 2010,
according to the FDA. The other proposed rule would require food
processors to develop and follow detailed plans for preventing
contamination of their products. "The rules go very directly to
preventing the types of outbreaks