About 48 million people (1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from food borne diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), as signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011, enables the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect public health by preventing widespread food illnesses created by improper processing or sanitation practices.
A comprehensive pest management plan is a critical component to a FSMA-compliant food safety program, according to McCloud Services, a pest management company servicing Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The company works to generate awareness on ways food facilities can build an effective pest management program that will comply under the FSMA.
“Food facilities are required to implement a written preventive controls plan, which includes sanitation maintenance and pest management practices,” said Patricia Hottel, technical director of McCloud Services. “The goal is to build a proactive pest management program based on identified risks and encourage the food facility to operate under a preventive mindset versus reactive.”
Several elements go into an effective pest management program under FSMA guidelines, including performing a risk analysis and thorough inspection of past pest pressures, establishing preventative controls, conducting ongoing monitoring and visual inspections, and identifying corrective actions to control the source through root cause analysis for long term success. Electronic documentation is also a key component in program development, verification and maintenance, and proper evaluation must occur on a regular basis.
To learn more about the critical program elements required for a compliant FSMA pest management program, download McCloud Services’ white paper, “Implementing FSMA Rules for Pest Prevention & Corrective Actions.”
