FDA is inviting public comments by November 23 on two draft guidances — on current good manufacturing practices (CGMP) requirements for food for animals and on CGMPs for human food by-products for use as animal food.
The two guidances are essential reading if your company is required to implement CGMPs for animal foods, especially as FDA is allowing flexibility in compliance depending on the nature of the products and the facilities.
As with all FDA draft guidances, the contents are non-binding and some elements in the final versions may be amended based on stakeholder comments. Nonetheless, the drafts provide useful examples and offer insights into the agency’s latest thinking.
Human food by-products used for animal food must be generally recognized as safe (GRAS) or approved as a food additive. But a substance that is considered GRAS or approved as a food additive for human use “may not always be suitable for use in animal food,” the agency says. Propylene glycol, for example, is considered GRAS as an anti-caking agent for human food but is prohibited in or on cat food.
The agency says it will be reviewing the list of animal food ingredient definitions in the Official Publication of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). Until that review is completed, FDA will accept ingredients in the AAFCO list “provided there are no food safety concerns about the use or composition of the ingredient that would render the food adulterated.”
In guidance on the use of shipping containers and bulk vehicles, the agency says it would expect a facility to know the previous use of a shipping container and whether it needed to be cleaned prior to containing a human food by-product for use as animal food. However, “this does not mean that the shipping container must be cleaned prior to each use in all situations,” the agency adds. But it would be “good practice for the facility to examine the customer’s shipping container or bulk vehicle to confirm that the shipping container or bulk vehicle will not lead to contamination of the human food by-products for use as animal food,” the agency says.
The two guidance documents list exemptions from the CGMP requirements. Generally, if a facility is not required to register with FDA under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), it does not have to comply with the CGMP requirements. This includes: farms; facilities regulated exclusively by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act); retail food establishments; restaurants (including pet shelters, kennels and veterinary facilities that provide food to animals are considered restaurants); and foreign facilities – if the food undergoes further processing by another facility outside the United States.
In situations where a facility is required to follow both the human food CGMPs and the animal food CGMPs, FDA will allow them to choose either compliance with the CGMPs in CFR part 117 for its human and animal food or following the CGMPs in part 117 for the human food and the CGMPs in 21 CFR part 507 for the animal food.
Some facilities manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for both humans and animals, FDA notes. For example, a facility that manufactures salt may process some salt meeting certain specifications for human use and other salt meeting certain specifications for animal use.
To decide which CGMPs to follow, the agency suggests that facilities consider how they are manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding the human and animal food. For example, if they have separate employees, production lines, and holding areas for human food and animal food, they might follow 21 CFR part 117 for the human food and 21 CFR part 507 for the animal food. If not, they it might prefer to follow 21 CFR part 117 for both the human and animal food, the agency says.
“We recognize that in many instances animal food facilities will be using the same building, grounds, employees, supervisors, management, equipment, and utensils to perform operations under 21 CFR part 507, subpart B, and part 225. In instances where the facility is subject to both 21 CFR parts 225 and 507 and the CGMPs overlap, the facility must follow the more specific requirements found in 21 CFR part 507, the agency says.
The CGMPs in 21 CFR part 507 are “umbrella” CGMPs that apply broadly to animal foods, but some animal foods, such as low acid canned food and medicated feed, also require specialized CGMPs, FDA explains.
September 19, 2016 was the compliance deadline for larger animal food facilities to comply with new CGMP requirements under FSMA. Small businesses have until September 18, 2017 and very small businesses have an extra year to comply.
As FDA begins to implement the new FSMA rules, the agency is committed to outreach and education rather than enforcement. So I think it would be entirely appropriate to consult with your local FDA district office if you are not clear about anything in the guidance.
Posted in Foods, FSMA Perspective and tagged Stephen Sundlof.