The Food and Drug Administration has introduced the Food Defense Plan Builder, a software program designed to help owners and operators of food facilities to develop customized plans to minimize the risk of intentional contamination.
“The F.D.A. is committed to providing best practices and resources to support industry as we pursue our shared goal of protecting our food supply,” said Michael Taylor, F.D.A. deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine.
The F.D.A. said cases of intentional contamination are infrequent but may cause serious consequences. They cited as an example a 2009 case from Kansas when 30 people became sick after a restaurant employee contaminated salsa with a pesticide.
The Food Defense Plan Builder is the latest in F.D.A. efforts to help owners and operators of food facilities defend the food supply. The program uses a series of questions about the user’s food facility and the food that is manufactured, processed, packed or held there to develop a defense plan for the facility. The sections of the program include company information, broad mitigation strategies, vulnerability assessment, focused mitigation strategies, emergency contacts, action plan and supporting documents.
