Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/694455
46 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 3, 2016 (June/July) Zwirnerei a. d. Wutach GmbH P.O. Box 1163 79778 Stühlingen · Germany Phone +49/ 7744/ 9396-0 Fax +49/ 7744/ 9396-20 info@zwirnerei-wutach.com www.zwirnerei-wutach.com TEA BAG THREAD FOR ALL TYPES OF TEA-PACKING MACHINES By Larry Luxner W ith the first provisions of the sweeping Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) set to take effect Sept. 19, the US coffee industry is scrambling to understand what it all means — and how to comply with minimal expense and bureaucracy. The National Coffee Association (NCA), calling FSMA "the most dramatic re- framing of the US food safety system since the 1930s," said the industry faces wide- spread "confusion and complexity" due to the 1,500 pages of rules FMSA entails, and because of the multiple regulations being implemented on different timelines. Simply put, within four months, any US company that imports food products — including coffee — will have to maintain written food safety plans. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently clarified that HAACP (hazard analysis and critical control points) plans already being used by manufacturing plants would suffice under the new rules. "We had a concern early on that FDA might be looking to put in brand new safety plans and throw out the old ones, which would have been like re-inventing the wheel," NCA spokesman Joseph DeRupo told us in a phone interview from New York. While rules on "preventive controls for human food" come into force on Sept. 19, rules for three other categories take effect at various dates next year. These are sanitary transportation (April 5, 2017), intentional adulteration (July 31, 2017), and foreign sup- plier verification (Dec. 31, 2017). No effective date has yet been announced for the fifth category, third-party accreditation and certification. Yet FMSA means stepped-up inspections, and it's unclear that the industry is ready. Close to 40% of US food and beverage professionals say their companies are not pre- pared to fully comply with FSMA regulations this year, according to a recent survey conducted by software maker Sparta Systems Inc. Are US Coffee Importers Ready for FSMA? Port inspectors will soon begin enforcing FSMA rules Photos by Larry Luxner