than a decade, both the FDA and the USDA have been encouraging companies they regulate to voluntarily establish food defense plans. To facilitate plan development, they created numerous resources for helping companies establish and maintain effective plans. The FDA’s Food Defense Rule requirements closely follow USDA’s food defense plan recommendations making USDA’s resources quite suitable and applicable for produce companies wanting to get started on developing a plan. In addition, to the FDAs’ Food Defense Rule Guidance, published last June, following is a list of helpful tools for companies to use in establishing and implementing a plan as well as training employees in food defense. • The Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) offers food defense awareness training. This course is intended to assist companies in complying with the FDA’s Food Defense Rule training requirements. • The FDA initiative, “Employees FIRST” (Follow company food defense plan and procedures; Inspect your work area and surrounding areas; Recognize anything out of the ordinary; Secure all ingredients, supplies, and finished product, Tell management if you notice anything unusual or suspicious), focuses on increasing food defense awareness and provides resources and training tools for employees. • The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Food Defense 101 tool includes five free, online courses your company can use to understand the Food Defense Rule. The courses will prepare your
team for establishing a facility-specific plan. • To help companies build a personalized food defense plan, the FDA developed a free, user-friendly software program, the Food Defense Plan Builder that walks them through the evaluation of the accessible and vulnerable steps in their production or areas within their facility and develop focused mitigation strategies. • The Mitigation Strategies Database, developed by the USDA, aids the food industry by providing a range of diverse countermeasures companies could consider implementing in their facility. This database identifies possible prevention methods for material receiving, storage, and transportation as well as general recommendations for security. • The FDA, in collaboration with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the USDA’s FSIS and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) developed the Food Related Emergency Exercise Bundle (FREE-B). The FREE-B provides eight different scenarios based on both intentional and unintentional food contamination events to assist companies in testing their defense plans and procedures. To conclude, the importance of taking steps towards preventing intentional contamination of our food supply cannot be overstated. Building a strong food defense plan goes a long way. Contact Western Growers Science and Technology Staff if you have any questions or comments related to this important topic.
WORKER CENTER & SUPPLY CHAIN PROTECTION
WAGE & HOUR
LABOR RELATIONS
H-2A / USDOL COMPLIANCE & DEFENSE
WRONGFUL TERMINATION SEXUAL HARRASSMENT
EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION
Sacramento O ce 1410 Rocky Ridge Drive, Suite 330 Roseville, CA 95661 916.782.8555 Central Coast O ce 512 Pajaro Street, Suite 14 Salinas, CA 93901 831.443.7100 www.LaborCounselors.com
The Saqui Law Group is dedicated to representing employers. We work closely with our clients to develop strategies for successfully achieving business goals in a di cult and complex regulatory environment. We take an aggressive approach to pro-active planning and legal defense. We are hands-on attorneys who are there where you need us, when you need us.
the
law group COUNSELORS TO MANAGEMENT
BUILT FOR EMPLOYERS
27
JULY | AUGUST 2018
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker