FDA Regulations for Food Packaging

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has many regulations that must be followed when it comes to packaging and labeling of food. The goal is to improve the safety of food distributed in the United States and to give consumers important information about that food. Does this Spark an idea?

Function
The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is the division of the FDA that is responsible for the safety and proper labeling of food. There are 25 food compliance programs that fall under CFSAN. According to the FDA, compliance programs are documents prepared by FDA's Centers that provide guidance to the agency's field offices for carrying out investigations, inspections, sample collections, sample analyses, and regulatory activities. Examples of compliance programs include the Import Acidified and Low-Acid Canned Foods Program, Import Seafood Products Compliance Program, and Pesticides and Industrial Chemicals in Domestic and Imported Foods.

Significance
According to the FDA, andy packaging that touches the food is referred to as a "food contact substance." The Office of Food Additive Safety and CFSAN are responsible for ensuring the safety of any food contact substances. They regulate all manner of packaging materials: coatings, plastics, papers, adhesives, food colorants, anti-microbials, antioxidants, and anything else use in packaging. The FDA must also ensure proper packaging for foods that have been irradiated.

Identification
The FDA has Food Labeling and Nutrition guidelines that determine what must be listed on food packaging. That generally includes a listing of ingredients, nutrition facts (including serving size and calories per serving, as well as the amount of fat, sodium, vitamins, carbohydrates, sugars and proteins), "best if used by" dates, instructions for handling and preparation, and contact information for the company that packaged the food.

Considerations
Because some raw fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish are often not packaged while on display in markets, the FDA offers downloadable posters of the 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits, vegetables, and fish in the United States. Retailers or restaurant owners can download that information to display or to pass out to customers. Individuals can also download the information from the FDA website.

Prevention/Solution
Under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Act, all foods packaged after 2006 must include information on the labels about major food allergens that may be in the product. Those allergens include milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, or the proteins of some of these products, such as casein in milk or gluten in wheat. Most labels also indicate if a product was made in a facility that uses any of those products, so as to notify the consumer of any possible health risks.

Safety
Food packaging generally also includes information as to the handling and storage of food (for instance, whether it should be refrigerated or frozen) as well as a date which indicates when the product should be sold by. Also, for consumer safety, many food labels mention how soon a product should be consumed after opening.

By Janoah White, eHow Contributor