FDA In Brief: FDA Launches Pilot Program to Evaluate Third-Party Food Safety Standards

 October 23, 2020

 Media Inquiries

 Amanda Turney
 301-796-2969

The following quote is attributed to Frank Yiannas, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has an unwavering commitment to help ensure the safety of foods for humans and animals. Today we are announcing a new third-party food safety standards alignment pilot program that is designed to help both the FDA and industry better understand how to determine whether these standards align with FDA regulations to help ensure safer food for consumers – a goal that is consistent with and an important element of our New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint

The FDA understands how determinations that third-party audit standards align with the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations could provide importers and receiving facilities with confidence that the standards used to audit their suppliers adequately consider the FDA’s food safety requirements. In addition, alignment determinations could help the FDA’s investigators more efficiently determine whether importers and receiving facilities are in compliance with FSMA supplier verification requirements"

Additional Information

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is launching a voluntary pilot program to evaluate alignment of private third-party food safety audit standards with the food safety regulatory requirements in two regulations under FSMA, the Preventive Controls for Human Food (PC Human Food) and the Produce Safety rules.
• The FDA is aware that many throughout the food industry voluntarily rely on private audit standards to evaluate their suppliers’ performance. In addition, the FDA also understands that determinations that third-party audit standards align with FSMA regulations could provide importers and receiving facilities with confidence that these audits could also be used to fulfill certain FSMA supplier verification requirements.

Related Information

• FDA Launches Voluntary Pilot Program to Evaluate Third-Party Food Safety Standards, Meeting Another Milestone in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety
• Federal Register: Pilot Program: Alignment of Third-Party Food Safety Standards with Food Safety Regulations
• New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.