FDA Establishing Pilot Projects to Trace Foodborne Illness Sources

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that two pilot projects will explore ways to trace sources of foodborne illness. Under requirement of the Food Safety Modernization Act (Jan. 2011), the FDA must establish, at a minimum, one pilot involving produce and a second involving processed foods. These pilots will examine the types of data that are useful for tracing, the speed with which data is made available to the FDA, the means of connecting points on the supply chain, and other methods and technologies for tracing foods.  The pilots will be directed by the FDA and carried out by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) under an existing FDA contract. Upon completion of the pilots, the FDA will begin the rulemaking on recordkeeping requirements for high-risk foods, in an attempt to facilitate tracing of foodborne illness sources.

Read the FDA Overview of Product Tracing Pilot Projects here.
Access the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act Web page here.

Written/Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant