The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), which produced the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Science and Research Strategic Plan for 2015-2018, acknowledges there are some “knowledge gaps” that must be addressed if FSMA is going to be successfully implemented.
“Further, globalization, new technologies, and increased consumer dreaming for fresh and imported food products are driving a need for new tools and standards to regulate a more complex and diverse food supply and cosmetic industry,” the plan states. “Given these pressures and scope of regulatory authority, CFSAN is directing resources toward targeted and strategic scientific research that supports regulatory decision making and meets the demands of emerging and existing food and cosmetic safety issues in the 21st century.”
The plan goes on to point out, “As CFSAN continues to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the center is focused on setting science-based preventive control standards for the way industry produces, distributes, and markets food in order to strengthen the nation’s food safety system. In 2013, CFSAN published six proposed regulations aimed at preventing contamination of food. The center will finalize these regulations and utilize new enforcement tools authorized by FSMA. Grounded in the latest science, these authorities will enhance the agency’s ability to implement a new prevention-focused food safety system.”
For an explanation of the strategic goals, visit http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodScienceResearch/ResearchStrategicPlan/default.htm
