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By Joe Boomgaard | FoodBiz
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WEST MICHIGAN — A recently enacted federal update to the national food safety laws has the potential to impact a wide range of food-related businesses, but the extent of that impact remains to be seen as many of the regulations have yet to be drafted.

The sweeping new laws come on the heels of massive food recalls in recent years. The $1.4 billion Food Safety Modernization Act, which was passed by the Senate in December and signed into law by President Obama in January, aims to give the Food and Drug Administration more power to help prevent food-borne illnesses by giving it greater enforcement authority designed to spur more compliance and to better contain the problems that might arise. The act also holds imported food and ingredients to the same standards.

“This is the biggest overhaul of the main act that the FDA enforces and that act is from the 1930s,” said Steve Kluting, a partner at Varnum LLP. “This is the biggest change since the late 30s.”

Kluting, along with fellow partner Matt Eugster, said many of the particular regulations will come along within the next couple of years. The two attorneys, part of Varnum’s food processing group, said they’ve urged clients to get familiar with the law and prepare early for ways to meet the upcoming changes, especially by reviewing recall policies and recall insurance and paying close attention to record-keeping programs.

“Over the next year or so, there will be some big changes they’re going to struggle to live with,” Eugster said, noting the act could stretch its impact to any agricultural operation.

In particular, Eugster said the number of plant inspections — whether by the FDA or its state partner programs — will “increase dramatically” from the current situation. All clients need to have policies in place for handling those inspections.

Chris Predko, partner at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, agreed that planning ahead and updating policies is imperative for food processors. He said the Food Safety Modernization Act could specifically impact the smaller food processors the most. Most of his food clients — primarily large-scale processors — already have most if not all the now-required pieces in place.

While USDA-regulated food processors — those that deal with meat, poultry and dairy, for example — have long lived with such inspections, they will come as quite a change to the FDA-regulated food processors working with fruits and vegetables.

Likewise, all processors, not just those regulated by the USDA, must now have Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans in place for their plants.

“This type of plan was historically required for companies regulated by the USDA…but it’s now a food industry-wide requirement for everybody,” Predko said. “It’s a major undertaking to put together a comprehensive hazard control plan from start to finish for all lines. You need to determine where all the critical control points are, where are hazards and how to stop them, and document it in a written plan for the FDA.”

The Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center West regional office, housed at The Right Place Inc., is developing a series of training programs for food processors, including in HACCP and lean techniques. Bill Small, MMTC-West director and VP of technical services at Right Place, said MMTC had identified quality systems and lean process training as a need in West Michigan before the Food Safety Modernization Act was passed. He said many large retailers had already been demanding that level of reporting from their suppliers. The organization partnered with The Starting Block kitchen incubator in Hart to develop a plan to add value for local food processors.

“One of the major values that the (Manufacturing Extension Partnership) and MMTC bring is a screening process to make sure the qualifications and expertise of the trainers is solid,” Small told FoodBiz. “That allows the food processing industry, especially the small to mid-size food processor, the ability (to not have to search for) who’s qualified.”

MMTC has yet to set training dates, but welcomes inquiries from food processors across West Michigan. Once the program is up and running, Small expects the training to be offered across the state.

Small said the training also helps these smaller companies deal with supply chain issues. The act requires processors to verify their supply chain, including foreign suppliers, to ensure that each supplier also has a safety plan. The foreign supplier verification provision “will be brand new to just about everybody,” although Predko noted the specific regulations have not yet been written so it’s anyone’s guess as to how that piece of the legislation will be enforced.

“It’s good business to make sure those foreign suppliers are doing the right thing, but I’m not sure everyone has those (capabilities yet),” he said.

Other provisions in the act deal with whistleblower protection and mandatory food recalls.

Overall, Predko said the new rules will “absolutely” be burdensome for companies, but he’s hoping for positive outcomes now that the FDA has started communicating with the industry about the proposed regulations. He’s encouraging clients to voice their opinions when they see provisions that will negatively affect their operations.

“Hopefully the feds will learn from past experiences,” Predko said.