FMI – The Food Industry Association is focused on ensuring that its members have access to the latest information on how technology can aide their food safety efforts.

FMI’s Food Protection Committee, for example, is an active community of food safety professionals focused on sharing best practices and improving food safety across the industry, said Hilary Thesmar, chief science officer and senior vice president of food and product safety.

“Research findings, regulatory activity and technological advances are shared through committee discussions, meetings, interaction with external experts in academia and through industry events such as the SQF Unites Conference.” 

FMI is also keeping a close eye on the federal regulatory climate, Thesmar said.

The Food Safety Modernization Act, for example, was a landmark law that required multiple new regulations, and industry members are still receiving new FSMA rules and guidance documents they need to integrate into their food safety action plans.

There are also several FDA initiatives on nutrition labeling that are anticipated this year, as well as ongoing initiatives such as voluntary sodium reduction, Thesmar said. “We are working closely with FDA on the Closer to Zero program focused on heavy metals naturally found in the environment, and USDA has a major rulemaking on Salmonella pending.”

This article is an excerpt from the August 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Food Safety feature and more in the digital edition here.