FDA Issues Small-Business Guide for Food Testing Program
FDA issued a small-entity compliance guide Oct. 19 to help small businesses comply with its final rule on laboratory accreditation for analyses of foods (LAAF). The guide includes information for labs that want to be accredited under the scheme, as well as for importers that must use accredited labs to demonstrate admissibility of foods with an identified food safety issue and removal from import alerts, and also to satisfy other product-specific testing requirements.
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FDA has said it will pursue a “stepwise” approach to implementation of the LAAF program. Once the agency has recognized a sufficient number of accreditation bodies, it will announce that laboratories may apply to be accredited under the program. Once enough laboratories have been accredited, FDA will publish a Federal Register notice giving importers (i.e., owners and consignees) six months’ notice that they will be required to use a LAAF-accredited laboratory for food testing.