Sarah Brew Comments on Potential Testing Requirements Under Proposed FDA Food Regulations

For now, the momentous food safety regulations the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed on January 4, 2013, do not include product testing and environmental monitoring provisions that manufacturers had feared. However, industry experts caution that the proposed rules lay the foundation for the agency to implement the measures in a final rule.

Talking to Law360, Sarah Brew pointed out that such rules would be tricky to implement across a diverse food processing industry. "They're very tailored to the individual plants and facilities, and I think the general feeling [among companies] is it's a 'one size does not fit all situation," Brew noted. In requests for comments, the FDA did use language which seemed to recognize that environmental monitoring and product testing would be implemented differently depending on the company. Brew added, "It seems like they're expressly recognizing it doesn't work across the board, they just want more comments on when the programs may be a good idea and what they should include."

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