I was catching up on FDA guidance documentation trying to enhance SafeSourcing traceability standards for our SafeSourceIt? Supplier Database.
The document was titled Guidance for Industry Questions and Answers Regarding the Reportable Food Registry as Established by the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 June 2009; Revised September 2009. After coming up with more questions than answers, I referred back to ISO 22000 from which is the standard for food safety.
ISO 22000:2005 specifies requirements for a food safety management system where an organization in the food chain needs to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe at the time of human consumption. It is applicable to all organizations, regardless of size, which are involved in any aspect of the food chain and want to implement systems that consistently provide safe products. The means of meeting any requirements of ISO 22000:2005 can be accomplished through the use of internal and/or external resources. ISO 22000:2005 specifies requirements to enable an organization — to plan, implement, operate, maintain and update a food safety management system aimed at providing products that, according to their intended use, are safe for the consumer.
With the number of health scares that have taken place in the last couple of years including in our school systems it might make good sense to review how your suppliers comply with this standard.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
