The American Feed Industry Association supports the Food and Drug Administration's vision outlined in the Blueprint for a New Era of Smarter Food Safety, but is concerned about unintended consequences brought about by the requirement to adopt emerging technology for use in food tracking and traceability.
“AFIA appreciates the development of new technologies that can improve manufacturing, tracking and tracing of animal food, however we urge the FDA to temper its enthusiasm to embrace new technology with the reality of current communication infrastructure in the U.S. Not all animal food manufacturers in rural areas have access to reliable cell service or high-speed internet,” explains Louise Calderwood, AFIA’s director of regulatory affairs.
The FDA needs to allow time for the animal food industry to adopt new technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things networks and artificial intelligence, as many companies are still developing internal systems to address the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act.
AFIA submitted comments urging the agency to extend its flexibility rationale as it continues to develop this exciting new approach to food safety management. Companies will have many ways of reaching the same goal of animal food safety and should be allowed to use a variety of approaches.
