The Manufacturing Confectioner • August 2008 79

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The safety and wholesomenessof candy are a top priority for the con-

fectionery industry. Confectionery manufac-turers in the United States must comply withall the FDA regulations and follow good man-ufacturing practices. Additional food-safetymeasures are likely as a result of pending leg-islation at the federal level and regulationsat the state level. As the FDA focuses moreresources on food safety, the agency is alsoconsidering changes to the Nutrition Factspanel and has recently issued a guidance doc-ument for industry on compliance with cur-rent labeling regulations. These issues will bediscussed below along with an update on thestandards of identity for chocolate.

FOOD SAFETY

The FDA released a Food Protection Planlate in 2007 and is moving forward with itsimplementation. The plan calls for meas-ures to more effectively prevent, intervene,communicate and respond to a breach infood-safety controls. To enact the plan, theFDA will hire 1,300 new employees duringthe current fiscal year and will place staffin other countries, with the first locationbeing China. The FDA also intends toaccredit third parties to certify companies’compliance with the FDA requirements andhas issued an Advance Notice of ProposedRulemaking on the topic.

However, despite a motivated FDA, recentfood-safety concerns, including the largestmeat recall in U.S. history, have spurred Con-gress to action as well. There have been fourdraft bills proposed that would dramaticallyincrease the FDA’s oversight of domestic foodprocessing as well as foreign locations. Whilethe bills differ in numerous ways, they allwould impose additional mandatory protec-tive controls on food facilities — includingmandatory food-safety plans such as haz-ard analysis critical control plans (haccp).The bills would also give the FDA the abilityto authorize a recall, which up until now hasalways been a voluntary process for foodcompanies. Many other provisions are alsounder consideration.

Both the FDA’s Food Protection Plan andmany elements of the draft legislation takeinto account the relative risk of food prod-ucts in terms of the requirements to beimposed on those products and the respec-tive agency resources that should be dedi-cated to those products. Pathogens areclearly a top priority for the FDA, but theirconcern also extends to chemical and phys-ical hazards. Candy is arguably a low-riskproduct compared to other foods that aretraditionally considered higher risk such asfresh seafood, fresh fruits and vegetablesand meats. However, the criteria for deter-mination of high- versus low-risk foods have

Regulatory Update for theU.S. Confectionery IndustryFood safety is a top priority for the FDA. Their focus is onpathogens along with chemical and physical hazards.

Alison BodorNational Confectioners Association (NCA)

Alison Bodor is direc-tor of regulatory andtechnical affairs at theNational Confection-ers Association. AtNCA, she managesfood policy, researchand regulatory issues.