- within Strategy and Accounting and Audit topic(s)
FDA announced its intention to reevaluate its
criteria for testing raw milk cheese for the presence of
non-toxigenic E. coli. The announcement is in response to
cheesemakers' concerns about FDA's application of safety
criteria that, the cheesemakers claim, may limit the production of
raw milk cheese without benefitting public health. Although most
domestic and imported raw milk cheeses meet the established
criteria, FDA has historically tested raw milk cheese for the
presence of E. coli because bacteria above a certain level
could indicate unsanitary conditions in a processing plant. The
cheesemakers' concerns include the application of test results
and scientific foundation of these criteria. FDA will reevaluate
its criteria under the framework of the Food Safety Modernization
Act ("FSMA") and in light of FSMA's Preventive Controls for Human Food rule,
finalized in September 2015, which requires food processors to
identify hazards in their product and operations, and to establish
controls to prevent or minimize those hazards. In the meantime,
while FDA continues to inspect cheese manufacturing plants and
testing for pathogens, the agency will pause its testing program
for non-toxigenic E. coli in cheese.
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