Third-party certification guidance
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
FDA announces the availability of guidance for industry on third-party food safety certification programs in a Jan. 16 Federal Register notice. The guidance is a step toward the agency's "future recognition of one or more voluntary third-party certification programs for particular product types," FDA says. A draft version of the guidance published in July 2008 seemed to validate the decisions of some food and dietary supplement firms to seek certification for their facilities from industry trade groups (1"The Tan Sheet" July 14, 2008, p. 13)