Sec. 201. Administration of national program
425 words·~2 min read·
/bill/116/s/1995/is/section-201A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Administrator shall— administer a national food safety program (referred to in this section as the program ) to protect public health; and ensure that persons who produce or process food meet their responsibility to prevent or minimize food safety hazards related to their products. The program shall be based on a comprehensive analysis of the hazards associated with different food and with the processing of different food, including the identification and evaluation of— the severity of the health risks; the sources and specific points of potential contamination extending from the farm or ranch to the consumer that may render food unsafe; the potential for persistence, multiplication, or concentration of naturally occurring or added contaminants in food; opportunities across the food production, processing, distribution, and retail system to manage and reduce potential health risks; and opportunities for intentional contamination.
In carrying out the program, the Administrator shall— adopt and implement a national system for the registration of food facilities and regular unannounced inspection of food facilities; verify and enforce the adoption of preventive process controls in food facilities, based on the best available scientific and public health considerations and best available technologies; establish and enforce science-based standards for— substances that may contaminate food; and safety and sanitation in the processing and handling of food; implement a statistically valid sampling program to ensure that industry programs and procedures that prevent food contamination are effective on an ongoing basis and that food meets the performance standards established under this Act; implement procedures and requirements to ensure the safety and security of imported food; coordinate with other agencies and State or local governments in carrying out inspection, enforcement, research, and monitoring; access the surveillance data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other Federal Government agencies, in order to develop and implement a national surveillance system to assess the health risks associated with the human consumption of food or to create surveillance data and studies to mitigate food threats (such as antibiotic resistance) or to identify the ways that food contamination spreads through environments; partner with relevant agencies to identify and prevent terrorist threats to food; establish a process for providing a single point of contact to assist impacted consumers in navigating Federal, State, and local agencies involved in responding to or monitoring a foodborne outbreak; develop public education risk communication and advisory programs; implement a basic and applied research program to further the purposes of this Act; and coordinate and prioritize food safety research and educational programs with other agencies, including State or local agencies.