The Food Safety Modernization Branch is inviting the local food industry to participate in the FDA’s discussion on Human and Animal Foods Sold through Business to Consumer (B2C) E-commerce

The Branch seeks to organize a Jamaican position/response on the topic. This serves to invite local food industry to submit their comments on 15 November 2021 and to participate in an online stakeholder forum on 18 November 2021. This will give us the opportunity to discuss and finalize the submission, in time to meet the FDA deadline of Nov 20, 2021

Supplementary Information

FDA is taking a new approach to food safety, leveraging technology and other tools and approaches to create a safer and more digital, traceable food system. Their ultimate goal is to bend the curve of foodborne illness in the US by reducing the number of illnesses. In July 2020 the FDA released their blueprint for the New Era of Smarter Food Safety. The blueprint outlines achievable goals to enhance traceability, improve predictive analytics, respond more rapidly to outbreaks, address new business models, reduce contamination of food, and foster the development of stronger food safety cultures. The Blueprint has four core elements:

C ore Element 1: Tech-Enabled Traceability

Core Element 2: Smarter Tools and Approaches for Prevention and Outbreak Response 

Core Element 3: New Business Models and Retail Modernization

Core Element 4: Food Safety Culture

The FDA convened a summit on 19-21 October 2021 which addressed a variety of topics related to human and animal foods sold through B2C e-commerce, including:

• Types of B2C e-commerce models (e.g., produce and meal kit subscription services, ghost kitchens, dark stores);
• Safety risks associated with foods sold through B2C e-commerce;
• Standards of care used by industry to control these safety risks;
• Types of delivery models (e.g., third-party delivery, autonomous delivery models);
• Regulatory approaches to food sold through B2C e-commerce, including challenges and gaps that need to be addressed; and
• Labeling of foods sold through B2C e-commerce.

The recordings for the summit can be found at the links below:

•          Recording of Day 1 https://youtu.be/I9ZhRSzG8Bk

•          Recording of Day 2 https://youtu.be/370-3gDPnAs

•          Recording of Day 3 https://youtu.be/UK5-Z0y7QMM

The FDA is inviting industry, consumers, consumer and public health organizations, academia, Federal, State, local and tribal governments, foreign governments, and other interested parties to provide their perspectives on these issues. The deadline for the submission of comments is November 20, 2021.

For more information please access the links below:

New Era of Smarter Food Safety Select Activities. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/food/new-era-smarter-food-safety/new-era-smarter-food-safety-select-activities

New Era of Smarter Food Safety. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/food/new-era-smarter-food-safety

Food and Drug Administration New Era of Smarter Food Safety Summit on E-Commerce; Public Meeting; Request for Comments. Retrieved from https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2021-N-0929-0001