Food Logistics serves the entire food supply chain industry with targeted content for manufacturers, retailers, and distributors.
Issue link: https://foodlogistics.epubxp.com/i/490456
N E W S F R O M A C R O S S T H E F O O D S U P P LY C H A I N SUPPLY SCAN 8 MARCH 2015 • FOOD LOGISTICS www.foodlogistics.com D A I L Y U P D A T E S A T W W W . F O O D L O G I S T I C S . C O M GAO: FDA Not Meeting FSMA Foreign Inspections Mandate The Food and Drug Admin- istration (FDA) is not meeting the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) mandate to inspect foreign food facilities, according to a U.S. Government Account- ability Office (GAO) report. The report was sent to a Congressional foreign affairs subcommittee. Under FSMA, the FDA was to inspect at least 600 foreign food facilities in 2011 and, for each of the next five years, inspect at least twice the number inspected during the previous year. The GAO report presented numbers showing the FDA is not keeping pace with the FSMA mandate. Obama Calls For Single Food Safety Agency The President's fiscal year 2016 budget proposal includes the cre- ation of a single food safety agency, according to the Global Cold Chain Alliance. Recommenda- tions for a single food safety agency have been made numerous times over the last 20 years, but none has been successful. Single agency proponents cite the inefficiencies and confusion caused by having the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service and the FDA both having jurisdic- tion over enforcing food safety. Database To Trace Foodborne Diseases The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with federal and state public health laborato- ries, has built a publicly-accessible genomic database to compare bacterial pathogens that cause foodborne diseases and trace them back to the sources faster and more precisely. The GenomeTrakr data- base leverages a laboratory process called whole-genome sequencing that identifies the complete DNA sequence of an organism's genetic material at a single time. Feds Sue To Halt Sysco/US Foods Merger The U.S. government filed a lawsuit to block Sysco Corp.'s proposed takeover of rival food distributor US Foods Inc. The proposed merger raised concern that allowing the two to combine would reduce competition and give them too much pricing power. PepsiCo And Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Close Russian Plants PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. AG are closing one plant each in Russia, citing a plunge in the value of the Russian ruble and an unfavorable economic situation. The two are the latest food and drink compa- nies to cut production in Russia as the country slides into recession. In January, Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S said it would close two plants in Russia, and Danone Russia said it would consider closing some of its dairy plants should the eco- nomic situation worsen. All data provided by Zepol. Visit zepol.com for a Free Trial U.S. BEER IMPORTS Countries of Origin for U.S. Beer Imports (2014) U.S. Beer Imports Billions 2007 $5 $4 $3 $2 $1 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 • Mexico • Netherland • Belgium • Canada • Ireland • United Kingdom • All Others 59% 19% 8% 5% 2% 3% 4% The U.S. imported more beer than ever in 2014. Import values reached over $4.1 billion. Most people don't know that Mexico is actually the top supplier for imported brews and provides almost half of U.S. beer imports. The Netherlands also supplies another 19 percent, followed by Belgium, and our northern neighbor, Canada. And here's a St. Patrick's Day surprise: Ireland makes up for only 5 percent of imported malt beer. Source: Zepol, www.zepol.com FDA INSPECTIONS OF FOREIGN FOOD FACILITIES COMPARED WITH FSMA MANDATE Number of inpections of foreign food facilities 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Fiscal year Sources: GAO analysis of FDA (data) and FSMA | GAE-15-183 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) actual FDA planned FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) mandate FSMA mandate (estimate) 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016