The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) has launched its own FSMA Readiness Self-Assessment Program, an online service designed to help frozen food facilities comply with preventive controls proposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
"Food safety is the highest priority of the frozen food industry," said AFFI President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz in announcing the new service. "This new tool has been designed to assist frozen food facilities in their quest to comply with the complex new requirements created by FSMA, which represents the first major overhaul of US food safety laws in nearly 70 years."
The program was designed in partnership with the Seneca Corporation, a leading provider of business process management solutions, with input from AFFI member companies. Comprehensive and easy-to-use, the programs self-assessment tool provides facilities with readiness scores covering 11 separate operational categories and indicates where action may be needed to ensure compliance with FSMA's proposed rule governing preventive controls.
Once completed, each facilitys self-assessment report is made immediately available to that facilitys authorized representative. The report identifies any shortcomings and provides links to specialized service providers who can assist the facility address such shortcomings through corrective measures. The self-assessment questionnaire can be completed an unlimited number of times over a three-month period following its initialization so as to provide facilities with sufficient time to correct any identified shortcomings.
