Food safety for consumers is a key aspect of the act, but the burden of compliance needs to be equally shared and the complexities of the supply chain better understood by the regulators enforcing the law.

The new FSMA deadlines are Aug. 30, 2015. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Washington, D.C., outlines what cold food processors should be doing now to comply with these new rules and regulations.

If you’re going through the motions of obtaining a GFSI certification, you may be in pretty good shape if FDA were to run an FSMA audit at your facility.

With FSMA’s risk-based approach to food safety and GFSI certifications de rigueur for processors to sell to retail chains, processors need to bring their employees up to speed on best practices for food safety techniques to meet regulatory requirements, obtain GFSI certification(s) and produce a safe product.

As you read this column, the federal government has ended its nearly 3-week partial shutdown and the business of governing has resumed in our nation’s capital. No doubt the resumption of suspended services is a welcome development for frozen food makers, who I know were frustrated by the impact.