US Food Safety Modernization Act

Abstract

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011, has transformed the nation's food safety system and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulatory posture by shifting the focus from a reactive nature to one of prevention. Congress enacted FSMA in response to dramatic changes in the global food supply chain and in FDA's understanding of foodborne illness and its consequences, including the realization that preventable foodborne illness is both a significant public health problem and a threat to the economic well-being of the food system. FSMA required FDA to establish prevention-oriented standards from farm through the distribution of food to retail that are based on sound science and risk—standards that if adopted widely by industry and regulated by FDA and state partners should serve to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.