FDA Advances FSMA Efforts With Lab Accreditation, Ag Water Rules

FDA on Thursday (Dec. 2) took additional steps towards implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act by finalizing an accreditation program for labs that analyze food and proposing changes to agency requirements for pre-harvest agricultural water used on produce. The agency’s final rule, “Laboratory Accreditation for Analyses of Food,” establishes a program, known as the Laboratory Accreditation for Analyses of Foods (LAAF), through which FDA will recognize accreditation bodies that can accredit labs to analyze foods. Labs should meet certain standards...