Information about the categories of food a facility manufactures or distributes helps the FDA do investigations and surveillance in response to food-related emergencies.
They also enable the agency to alert facilities potentially affected by an incident if it receives information indicating the type of food affected.
The FDA guidance update is due to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and companies will have to select appropriate categories from the updated ones during the October – December registration renewal period.
Food product categories also help verify imported products are correctly identified by where and when they were produced.
The changes in the guidance were discussed in a rule that amended FDA’s food facility registration regulation.
Updates include acidified foods and low acid canned foods no longer listed as food product categories because they are now activity types and molluscan shellfish is now a category (previously, molluscan shellfish establishment was listed among the optional activity types).