The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) completed two more phase I Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regional seminars in Des Moines, Iowa, and Atlanta, Georgia, Aug. 11–12 and Aug. 14–15, respectively. Both of the two-day seminars discussed the developing need for an industry-wide understanding of the largest set of rules to impact the feed and petfood industries. The first training session was held in Sacramento, California, in late July.
The sold-out Des Moines meeting was attended by more than 130 feed manufacturers, petfood manufacturers and ingredient suppliers interested in learning more about quality and food safety practices. "Our goal is to provide a solid foundation to the quality and food safety programs for businesses as they begin to implement practices and prepare documentation for compliance with the new FMSA requirements," said Dr. Henry Turlington, AFIA director of quality and manufacturing regulatory affairs.
AFIA hosted a second sold-out training course in Atlanta, where one-third of the room represented the poultry integrator sector of the industry. Dr. Adam Fahrenholz of North Carolina State University joined Turlington, speaking on the topic of "CGMPs: The Foundation for an Effective Food Safety Plan." Fahrenholz chaired AFIA's Current Good Manufacturing Practices FSMA Working Group that prepared comments to the US Food and Drug Administration on the proposed CGMP rules.
Turlington said that participants at the training sessions expressed concern and asked questions about efforts to reach compliance. "It is important facilities understand how FMSA impacts them as requirements may differ based on the business and facility's animal food safety plan," said Turlington. "The information shared during the meetings, as well as references provided electronically, will help businesses determine the right steps for them."
AFIA will be back in Atlanta to host an additional phase I FSMA regional seminar training program at the International Production & Processing Expo on Jan. 28, 2015. The one-day meeting will discuss the FSMA proposed rules and the fundamentals for complying with FSMA as was done in all three meetings completed this summer. Registration and event information will be available on Sept. 1, 2014, at https://www.ippexpo.org/.
Phase II and phase III FSMA regional seminars will be hosted by AFIA in 2015 along with a series of other training tools under construction along with the in-person meetings.
