New regulations for seafood.A revolutionary way of protecting the U.S. food supply from contaminants could begin this year under new regulations for seafood safety that take effect December 18, 1997. The regulations, announced by FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. last December, call for seafood processors to adopt food safety practices based on the Hazard Analysis A hazard analysis is a process used to characterize the elements of risk. The results of a hazard analysis is the identification of unacceptable risks and the selection of means of controlling or eliminating them. Critical Control Point (HACCP HACCP hazard analysis critical control points. ) system. This system uses preventive controls to keep unsafe foods off the market, instead of addressing safety problems after the fact, which has been the approach since the early 1900s. FDA estimates its HACCP seafood safety regulations will prevent 20,000 to 60,000 seafood poisonings a year, which cost consumers as much as $116 million annually. Next year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue HACCP rules for meat and poultry, and in future years, FDA plans to issue regulations covering other foods. Under the seafood regulations, processors must identify hazards that, without preventive controls, are reasonably likely to affect product safety. Examples of food hazards are chemicals, toxins, bacteria, parasites, and physical objects. If a hazard is identified, the firm must implement an appropriate HACCP plan. For example, a highly mechanized mech·a·nize tr.v. mech·a·nized, mech·a·niz·ing, mech·a·niz·es 1. To equip with machinery: mechanize a factory. 2. processing line would be checked regularly for metal fragments in the food, and records kept of those checks. With the HACCP record-keeping, FDA inspectors can monitor product safety more closely and on a more continuous basis than with the older "spot-checking" method. The HACCP seafood regulations have special provisions for certain fish. For example, processors of raw molluscan mol·lus·can also mol·lus·kan adj. Of or relating to the mollusks. n. A mollusk. shellfish, such as oysters, clams and mussels, must specify in their HACCP plans that they will accept only molluscan shellfish harvested from approved waters. For smoked fish Smoked fish are fish that have been cured by smoking. Salmon is commonly cold-smoked to make lox, but several other kinds of fish are frequently hot-smoked, such as whitefish, herring, trout, mackerel and sablefish. , processors must implement procedures to ensure that the product remains safe from Clostridium botulinum Clostridium bot·u·li·num n. A bacterium that occurs widely in nature and is a cause of botulism; its six main types, A to F, are characterized by antigenically distinct but pharmacologically similar, very potent neurotoxins. toxin through the shelf life of the product. The HACCP rules do not apply to fishing vessels Customary International Law provides that coastal fishing boats and small boats engaged in trade, as distinguished from seagoing fishing boats and large traders, are immune from attack and seizure during war. This Immunity is lost if fishing vessels take part in the hostilities. and transporters. However, processors must take responsibility for their seafood materials, whether imported or domestic. The rules also do not apply to retail seafood operations, which are regulated by state and local authorities who have received training and other technical assistance from FDA. FDA published the rules in the December 18, 1995, Federal Register. For more information, see "HACCP: Patrolling for Food Hazards" in the January-February 1995 FDA Consumer. (Source: FDA Consumer, March 1996) |
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