FDA, NIH to streamline online food safety reporting
The Safety Reporting Portal (SRP) is said to provide “greater and easier access” to online food safety reporting.
The new site will include a more user-friendly platform for reporting those foods that have the potential to cause adverse health consequences or death in people or animals, whether by contamination or the presence of undeclared allergens, for example. It will eventually lead to an integrated system in which one report of a safety incident will be communicated to all interested federal agencies. The portal will also cover the reporting of animal drugs, pet food and clinical trials, the FDA said.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said: "The portal will be a key detection tool in improving the country's nationwide surveillance system and will strengthen our ability to protect the nation's health. We will now be able to analyze human and animal safety-related events more quickly and identify those measures needed to protect the public."
Seeking industry comments
The agency is seeking comments from industry on its new draft document regarding the Reportable Food Registry, which was implemented in September last year. The document is intended to provide further guidance to industry on reportable foods and how to submit reports, and addresses some of the inquiries that the agency has received from industry since the Registry has been in use.
The Safety Reporting Portal can be accessed at www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov.
The draft document on the Reportable Food Registry, including information on when and how food manufacturers are required to report foods, as well as information on how to submit comments to the FDA, is available here.
