Top 5 Food Safety Measures in Minnesota

One measure taken by the FDA to ensure safe food warehouses in Minnesota is registration. All FDA certified warehouses are registered with the FDA. This registration acts as a contractual agreement between the FDA and the warehouse in which the warehouse agrees to comply with FDA regulations and gives the FDA permission to contact, enter, or inspect the business at any time.

FDA certified warehouses in Minnesota (as well as in other states, as the FDA is a federal organization) must submit to regular inspections (one in the first five years of becoming FDA certified, and one every three years following that). Performing regular inspections allows the FDA to ensure that all FDA certified warehouses are meeting FDA standards and complying with all health and safety requirements.

FDA certified warehouses are required to have detailed prevention plans in place. These prevention plans must discuss potential risks to food products and explanations of how the company plans to prevent such risks from becoming an issue, or how they will deal with such risks as they arise. Employees of the warehouse in question must be knowledgeable about the prevention plan, and the prevention plan must be available to FDA officials upon request.

The FDA is authorized to recall food items that they have reason to believe is contaminated or improperly labeled. If a recall is imminent, FDA certified warehouses are notified, given time to react, and encouraged to order a voluntary recall. If the warehouse fails to order a voluntary recall, the FDA retains the right to shut down said warehouse’s processing and distribution operations.

As a final safety measure, the FDA has the authority to enforce disciplinary actions if a Minnesota warehouse is not complying with safety standards and regulations. These measures may include issuing fines, revoking or suspending business licenses, or even pursuing legal actions against company owners.