TraceGains Webinar Addresses FDA Seeking Upgraded Standards

Dec. 5, 2013 - PRLog -- Recently Christy Corp-Minamiji, DVM, writer for The VIN News Service, reported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to extend to the animal-food arena some safe-manufacturing approaches used for human food to diminish health risks to people and animals caused by contaminated livestock feed and pet food,

TraceGains will host FSMA webinar on December 13 to help those in the petfood and animal feed industries prepare for the Food Safety Modernization Act. Link to register: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/737742854. The proposed requirements dictate a substantial upgrade of the current regulatory standard. Marc Sanchez will co-present the webinar with TraceGains.

According to the article, among the proposed changes are the institution of Current Good Manufacturing Processes (CGMPs) and a requirement that facilities producing animal food complete hazard analyses and preventive controls. In a description of the proposal, the FDA says the rule specifically would establish requirements for: a written food safety plan; hazard analysis; preventive controls for hazards that are reasonably likely to occur; recall plan for animal food with a hazard that is reasonably likely to occur; monitoring; corrective actions; verification; and associated records.

Proposed CGMPs cover hygiene and personnel training, facility operations and sanitation, equipment, manufacturing processes, and warehouse storage and distribution. CGMPs and hazard analyses have been required for decades by the FDA for facilities manufacturing human food. By contrast, regulation of animal feed largely has been focused on specific safety questions, such as contamination by drugs or diseased tissue — such as with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease.

TraceGains’ mission is to promote quality and safety within the food supply chain by offering a cloud-based, automated solution to mitigate risk, improve quality, and empower 365 Audit Ready companies. Food Safety News provides much-needed coverage of topics important to the core audience of government agency personnel and food industry leaders.

TraceGains (www.tracegains.com) provides food and beverage manufacturers and distributors with a web-based, full-service supplier, compliance, and regulatory document management solution that automates and streamlines processes to convert static documents into actionable data. With a network of more than 5,000 supplier members and more than 250 deployment sites, TraceGains offers an ever-expanding database of suppliers, purchased items, and documents that companies can leverage to improve product quality, accelerate product development, and meet regulatory and audit pressures. TraceGains not only digitizes all incoming documents, making them easily searchable, but also extracts critical data and analyzes them against customer-specific business and compliance rules, alerting stakeholders to any non-compliance. TraceGains’ automated solution assures companies that documentation is up to date, organized, and searchable, making companies 365 Audit Ready. TraceGains’ customers boast a four to six month return on their investment.

TraceGains, Inc.

www.tracegains.com

Jennifer Brusco

Marketing Strategist

pr@tracegains.com

720-465-9400