Judge orders new deadline for FSMA reforms
A U.S. judge in federal court has ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has to come up with a new timetable to implement Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) reforms.
In handing down the decision in a California courtroom, US District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton sided with two advocacy groups, the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Environmental Health. The two groups alleged the FDA missed important deadlines put forth when FSMA passed Congress in 2011.
Officials behind the FSMA, which gives the FDA the power to order recalls and ease the tracing of contaminated food, must now come up with a new timetable. In a discussion with FoodProductionDaily.com, FDA spokesperson Shelly Burgess said the agency could not provide comment or further detail at this point.
