John Rupnow

　　Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

　　The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011. The FSMA has given the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authorities to regulate the way foods are grown, harvested and processed. The law grants the FDA a number of new powers, including mandatory recall authority. The law was prompted after many reported incidents of foodborne illnesses. Tainted food has cost the food industry billions of dollars in recalls, lost sales and legal expense. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 2011 that each year 48 million people (1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. It is considered the first major piece of federal legislation addressing food safety since 1938. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), enables FDA to better protect public health by strengthening the food safety system. It enables the FDA to focus more on preventing food safety problems rather than relying primarily on reacting to problems after they occur.

　　It is also the first piece of legislation to address intentional adulteration and Food Defense. Food Defense is the effort to protect food from acts of intentional adulteration. Specific categories of concern include:

　　Industrial sabotage. These events include intentional contamination by a disgruntled employee, insider or competitor with the intention of damaging the brand of the company, causing financial problems from a widespread recall or sabotage, but not necessarily with the goal of causing widespread illness or public harm.

　　Terrorism. The complexity of the food system has caused concern for its potential as  a terrorist target.

　　Economically motivated adulteration. The fraudulent, intentional substitution or addition of a substance in a product for the purpose of increasing the apparent value of the product or reducing the cost of its production, i.e., for economic gain.

　　FSMA also addresses the safety of imported food. The Foreign Supplier Verification requires that importers perform certain risk-based activities to verify that food imported into the United States has been produced in a manner that meets applicable U.S. safety standards. FDA's new powers will have a huge impact on food safety given that an estimated 15 percent of the U.S. food supply is imported, including 50 percent of fresh fruits, 20 percent of fresh vegetables and 80 percent of seafood. China is currently our largest goods trading partner with $578.6 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2016. Goods exports totaled $115.8 billion; goods imports totaled $462.8 billion.