For as long as food products have been produced, pathogens have lurked in the dark. Until recently, they evaded detection, slowly, secretly making people sick. The days of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the USDA’s Food and Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) coming into your facility and giving it a “once over” are history. The authorities want to solve unsolved outbreaks and, with the advanced technologies, they are getting what they are wishing for.
In the past, FDA relied on USDA’s expertise with mandating and enforcing the hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) regulations to provide the new FDA model for preventative controls. But now, when it comes to solving unsolved outbreaks, FDA takes the lead.