FSMA Readiness

FSMA – Food Safety Modernization Act was signed into law on January 4, 2011. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was given the task and the resources to update, develop and implement a new set of food safety guidelines for the food and beverage industry. The new FSMA Final Rules were published in October 2015, add additional science-based and best practices requirements to all parties in the food chain.

These new Final Rules impact the farm, the importer, the supplier, the processor, shippers, storage facilities, auditors and regulatory agencies. They shift the food safety focus from responding to food safety contamination and failures to prevention or preventing food safety failures and incidents from occurring. FSI has developed and provides an on-site FSMA “Readiness Assessment Program” that supports our customer in identifying gaps within their food safety plan, as the relate specifically to FSMA Final Rules. The FSI Readiness Assessment Program is followed by a Written Action Plan that specifies corrective actions and improvement recommendations

Readiness Assessment
The Readiness Assessment program is an all-inclusive approach based on a GFSI “Global Food Safety Initiative” schemes for food safety standards. FSI has combined food category specific FDA/USDA - HACCP/HARPC principals and cGMP’s to develop a comprehensive 10-section check list that guides the auditing process and indicates both in and out of compliance programs and policies, specific to the FSMA Final Rules.

Written Action Plan Development
The FSI Written Action Plan is a user friendly living document based on the assessment, that guides the implementation team and complies with FSMA documentation requirements, including verifying and validating the effectiveness of new policies and programs.