FDA launches food safety dashboard

As the seven foundational rules of FSMA reach their compliance dates, the FDA has begun to track their impact on the food safety system. The agency has established a dashboard where it will publish metrics relating to implementation of the law, according to a statement from acting Commissioner Norman “Ned” Sharpless, M.D., and Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response.

The new Food Safety Dashboard, launched at the end of September, is part of FDA-TRACK, a tool the agency uses to monitor certain programs through key performance measures and projects. It’s regularly updated to ensure transparency to the public.

Although the FDA expects that it will take several years to establish trends in the data, the initial information shows that since 2016, the majority of companies inspected are in compliance with the new requirements of the preventive control rules. Additional FDA data also show that overall industry has improved the time it takes to move from identifying a recall event to initiating a voluntary recall, from an average of four days in 2016 to about two days in 2019.

“In fact, comparing the FSMA data with our recall data shows the bigger picture, demonstrating the effectiveness of preventive measures as food recalls once again have reached a five-year low,” the statement says.