An Intro to FSMA for Quick Service Restaurants

It’s always better to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to food safety.

In an effort to be more proactive, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was created to protect food during manufacturing and transport. In the end it plays a major role in keeping consumers safe.

FSMA: What is It?

According to the CDC, 48 million people get sick each year from foodborne illness; that’s 1 in 6 Americans. The FDA designed FSMA to control the manufacturing and distribution processes of food. Not only does this law track compliance and quality assurance, it also keeps the end consumer safe.

Although this law was put into place in 2011, it is still in the early stages of understanding and implementation. Many people are still learning how FSMA compliance affects them and what it means for their business.

Who’s Responsible?

Primarily, FSMA impacts food manufacturers and distributors. However, restaurants are responsible for double checking that the the food they receive is up to standard.

If a restaurant patron becomes sick from food that was improperly handled throughout the supply chain, it’s the restaurant chain’s reputation and brand that is at risk. Even though the legislation generally excludes restaurants, it’s important that restaurants familiarize themselves with the requirements for FSMA. That way, restaurants can do their part in protecting their customers and their brand.

So which parts of FSMA could apply to restaurants?

Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP)

Prevention is critical when it comes to food safety, especially when food is being imported. If your ingredients are coming from foreign sources, FSVP applies to you, if you import goods directly. If you use an importer, FSVP applies directly to your importer.

One aspect of FSVP is that importers need to perform certain risk-based activities to verify that the food being imported has been produced in a way that meets United States safety standards. This ensures that the food being served in your restaurant poses no hazardous risk to your customers. There are certain imported goods that do not fall under FSVP, such as many of the foods covered by HACCP. For a full list of non-covered imports, check the FDA guidelines.

In some cases, the importer may be an individual on your food safety team. Knowing who on your team is the importer is highly important. The importer is the individual who controls the finances of the imported food, controls the agent, or controls the goods.  

As a restaurant, it is important to be aware of FSVP, though the importer is responsible for abiding by the rules. Food safety starts at the source, so your relationship with your suppliers and distributors should be both strong and transparent.

Sanitary Transport Rule

The Sanitary Transport Rule was put in place to keep food safe from contamination during transport. Throughout the supply chain, food should be kept within a clean, temperature controlled environment. The vehicle which is transporting the food must be organized in a way to protect from cross contamination.

The rule impacts shippers, loaders, carriers, and receivers who are involved in the transportation of food. If you own or operate your own food distribution channel, then the Sanitary Transport Rule applies to you. If you use a 3rd party distributor, then the Sanitary Transport Rule applies to your distributor. In order to ensure food safety, it’s important to set detailed standards for shipping and receiving in your standard operating procedures agreement with your distributor.

What to do when product arrives at your restaurant?

When a delivery arrives at your restaurant it is the restaurant’s responsibility to make sure the food meets quality and food safety standards.

There are 3 key things employees should do to check the quality and safety of food upon arrival.

1. Make sure that the food is coming from an approved source. There should be proper documentation upon arrival.
2. Take external temperatures of about 5-7 products. A helpful tool for this is a food probe. Employees should be taught to fold the product over and around the food probe to check the temperature.
3. Check the condition of the packaging for contamination, rips, or if the package looks like it was tampered with.

Be sure that all establishments have a protocol for handling damaged deliveries. If your business receives key drop deliveries, restaurants can follow those 3 steps upon staff arrival in the morning to ensure food is safe to serve to customers.

FSMA ensures compliance, and works to prevent foodborne illness from farm to fork. To learn more about FSMA, check out the FDA website.

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