Dairy Groups Propose FSMA Exemption

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to exempt dairy farms from new safety food regulations, according to a press release available here. Wisconsin Farmer also published an article available here and Food Safety News here.

Last week, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIS) applauded the FDA’s proposal to exempt animal food from the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) intentional adulteration rule.

FDA is reviewing NMPF comments on the FSMA law, which is intended to enhance the safety protocol for foods potentially threatened by terrorists.

NMPF stated that “activities on dairy farms should not be addressed through this rule,” due to the challenge of predicting the “precise processing facility and type of product or ingredient to which an individual farm’s milk is ultimately destined.”

"We disagree with the premise that on-farm milk destined for pasteurization is a high-risk food,” said Beth Briczinski, NMPF’s vice-president of Dairy Foods and Nutrition.

Some proposals have suggested locking milk houses to prevent terrorists from intentionally adulterating milk. State food officials have argued that locking milk houses would prevent inspectors from doing their job, according toWisconsin Farmer.