The FDA has undertaken the voluntary pilot program to evaluate whether private third-party food safety audit standards adequately cover the relevant technical components of the PC Human Food Rule .The PC Human Food Rule food safety requirements are one of the key regulations issued to implement the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
The result of their evaluation shows that the FDA considers the FSSC 22000 V5.1 scheme for food production, together with FSSC 22000 V5.1 FSMA PCHF Addendum Version 3, to meet the current requirements of the PCSC food rule.
This positive outcome of the FDA review provides further confidence to those organizations relying on compliance with FSSC 22000 and its Addendum.
A detailed article and the full evaluation results are available on FDA website here .
While the FDA says accredited third-party certification against voluntary schemes like FSSC 22000 is no substitute for FDA or state regulatory inspections for FDA regulatory compliance, the project represents an advance in public-private collaboration and the achievement of another milestone in New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprints .
Aligning the FSSC 22000 V5.1 Scheme (plus FSSC 22000 V5.1 FSMA PCHF Version 3 Addendum) with FDA Food Safety Regulations is a critical step in market acceptance and building trust for globally recognized food safety schemes based on reliable third party audits.
This will be good news for those of the 33,000 FSSC 22000 certified organizations worldwide looking to market products in the United States.
"Foundation FSSC is pleased to continue its partnerships with the FDA and other global regulatory organizations. Supporting the industry with further assurances that organizations certified under the FSSC 22000 scheme for food safety management systems and its Addendum are in line with the requirements of preventive controls standards for human food is a great advantage." Guido Dinjens, Chief Market Officer of FSSC
(Source: https://www.fssc.com/ )