On January 17, 2017, FDA announced the availability of a revised draft guidance for industry titled, "Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods." The revised draft guidance is intended for any person who is subject to FDA's "Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food" regulation, and who manufactures, processes, packs, or holds ready-to-eat ("RTE") foods. The guidance is intended to help industry comply with the requirements of that regulation with respect to measures that can significantly minimize or prevent the contamination of RTE food with Listeria. The guidance includes recommendations for controls involving personnel, cleaning and maintenance of equipment, and sanitation, as well as for treatments that kill Listeria and formulations to prevent it from growing during storage of the food between production and consumption. Industry best practices and the "seek and destroy" approach used by the Food Safety and Inspection Service ("FSIS") have also been incorporated into the draft guidance. Comments are due July 26, 2017.
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