AFIA food safety seminar clarifies FSMA regulations

Henry Turlington, AFIA director of quality and manufacturing regulatory affairs, talks compliance at the Food Safety Modernization Act—Building a Foundation for Compliance seminar.
The American Feed industry Association (AFIA) hosted a full-day seminar on the US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) at the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 28. Part of a three-phase training program, AFIA's Phase I Food Safety Modernization Act–Building a Foundation for Compliance seminar is designed to educate and update feed and petfood manufacturers and ingredient suppliers on the various components of the new US law. Nearly 120 expo attendees attended the seminar.
"The implementation of the proposed FSMA rules has been a huge undertaking for the feed and petfood industry, and it is important for industry professionals to understand how to comply with the different requirements," said Henry Turlington, AFIA director of quality and manufacturing regulatory affairs.
The seminar was part of a line-up of 25 educational programs at IPPE. The show attracted an estimated 30,000 poultry, meat and feed industry leader attendees from all over the world. IPPE had 1,288 exhibitors with more than 490,000 net square feet of exhibit space.
Turlington opened the AFIA seminar with an overview of newly proposed FSMA rules and what the regulatory changes mean to the feed industry. He discussed AFIA's recommendations for complying with the new law and how the organization will assist its members during the implementation process.
The seminar provided information on how to build a solid foundation with current good manufacturing practices, key components of a supplier verification program, what is required for an animal food safety plan and why having a plan is beneficial to a facility. Turlington stressed the importance of implementing both a recall plan and training program for preventative measures.
Phase II of the FSMA trainings are slated to take place in 2015. They will educate feed and petfood industry professionals on the next steps in the implementation process.