FDA To Revise Food Safety Rules For Farmers

Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced plans to revise the current food safety rules set in place for the nation's farmers. The purpose of these rules is to reduce the spread of food-borne illness, which affects nearly 1 in 3 individuals each year. But news of the revised food safety rules isn't being received positively by the farming community.

While most cases of food-borne illness result in a full recovery with no lasting effects, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 1,686 deaths occur from tainted food consumption in the U.S. each year. Salmonella, Toxoplasma, Listeria, and norovirus are some of the most common forms of food-borne illness, causing over 70,000 annual hospitalizations.

You can read more about food-borne illness and how to protect your family from it on our previous blog post.

The new FDA food safety rules are actually part of the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act. Touted as the biggest reform in food safety laws within the past 70 years, the Food Safety Modernization Act is designed to prevent food safety contamination in food from the point of production.

Once these new rules are enacted, farmers will be forced to upgrade their equipment, implement new testing procedures, use better sanitation practices, and much more. Most of the larger farming companies won't run into any issues transitioning into the new FDA rules, but smaller companies might.

It's important to note that a significant portion of the meat and produce you purchase at the grocery store comes from small, local farmers and not big-name companies. Unfortunately, small farmers such as this may not have the financial means (or manpower) to successfully implement all of the new rules set forth by the FDA.

So, how does the FDA plan to handle this predicament they are currently in? Last week, they placed a temporary hold on the new safety rules for farmers to voice their concerns. This isn't a free pass for small farmers and farming companies by any means, but it will give them some time to discuss the best course of action with the FDA.

"Because of the input we received from farmers and the concerns they expressed about the impact of these rules on their lives and livelihood, we realized that significant changes must be made, while ensuring that the proposed rules remain consistent with our food safety goals," said FDA Commissioner Michael Taylor.