On October 6, the Office of Seafood of the FDA Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition posted on its www site a document, dated May 13, 2005,
titled "FDA's Evaluation of the Seafood HACCP Program for Fiscal
Years 2002/2003." http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/seaeval3.html
The evaluation covers the status of domestic and international seafood
processors and importers in Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003 in operating
preventive controls under FDA's Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
(HACCP) Program. These Fiscal Years represent the fifth and sixth years of
the seafood HACCP program which was implemented in 1997.
In each of the six years of the industry performance has improved. FDA has
used the previous evaluations to make changes to the compliance programs
to focus inspection and training efforts on certain industry segments or
specific food safety hazards. These efforts have paid off as evidenced by
the steady improvements over the years. However, despite increased Agency
efforts, certain industry segments continue to lag behind.
Information from the summaries may be helpful to HACCP trainers who can
address key points and deficiencies during training.
Based on the Evaluation, the FDA recommends the following:
- Continue to prioritize all manufacturers of high risk fishery products,
particularly processors of scombroid species and cooked ready-to-eat
products, for annual inspection.
- Prioritize processors and importers of aquaculture products increased
inspection and training.
- Issue the fourth edition of the Fish & Fisheries Products Hazards and
Control Guidance to facilitate compliance by processors of scombroid
products.
- Complete an evaluation of firms that need a HACCP plan but still do not
have one and determine what follow up action is needed to ensure
compliance on this issue.
Pamela Tom
Sea Grant Extension Program
University of California
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