Specialty Food Magazine

Summer 2020

Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.

Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1256204

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FDA Moves to Modernize Standards of Identity BY RON TANNER F ollowing a 15-year hiatus, the Food & Drug Administration is moving toward modernizing the food standards of identity. In 2005, the FDA and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service proposed a rule to modernize these standards, many of which were more than 60 years old, long before ingredient listings and the nutrition labels were required on food products. The standards were originally established to protect the public from food adulteration because some manufacturers were adding extenders and other non- nutritive additives to food yet still calling products by common names. Also, some standards appeared to be supportive of the major manufacturers that dominated the food industry in the 1950s and 1960s. For instance, ketchup could only be comprised of tomatoes. And some of the standards, for products such as Chicken Kiev and Frozen Cherry Pie, were decidedly outdated. There are currently more than 270 FDA standards of identity and over 80 FSIS standards of identity. According to FDA, modernizing food standards would: • Better promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers and protect the public • Allow for technological advances in food production • Be consistent with international food standards to the extent feasible; and • Be clear, simple, and easy to use for both manufacturers and the governmental agencies USDA and FDA did not finalize the proposed rule in 2005 "due to resource constraints and competing priorities." SPECIALTY FOOD SPECIALTYFOOD.COM SPECIALTY FOOD MAKER

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