FSMA Security Compliance Keeps Our Food Safe

World Food Safety Day, held annually on June 7, aims to raise global awareness and inspire action on the critical importance of food safety. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2018 and is jointly facilitated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).The core message is that food safety is everyone's business – from farmers and producers to governments, businesses, and consumers. The 2025 theme is "Food Safety: Science in Action." 

In 2019, the CDC reported that seven major pathogens were responsible for foodborne illnesses in the United States, resulting in hospitalizations and deaths. Six of these pathogens caused nearly 10 million foodborne illnesses, resulting in 53,300 hospitalizations and 931 deaths. 

To address foodborne illnesses, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was enacted by Congress in 2011. The law strengthened the U.S. food safety system by emphasizing prevention rather than response. The law gave the FDA new authorities to oversee food production, enhance surveillance, and improve response and recovery from foodborne outbreaks. 

By shifting the focus from response to foodborne illness to prevention, security departments and companies have become significant players in helping the FDA keep our food supply safe. Security technology solutions are currently playing a crucial role in mitigation strategies, enabling companies to not only ensure the safety of their products but also remain compliant with FSMA rules and regulations.

Ensuring the safety of the food supply is a complex process. There are many players involved along the supply chain for both human and animal food products. The FSMA outlines specific actions that must be taken at each stage to prevent contamination. 

FSMA outlines ten rules to ensure a shared responsibility along the supply chain. The rules span from Preventive Controls for Human Foods to the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food. The Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration is where security teams and solutions come into play. This rule targets the processes in the food facilities and requires risk-reducing strategies. 

The Mitigation Strategy

The FSMA requires each facility to have a written food defense plan in place. The plan must identify vulnerabilities, outline actionable process steps, include mitigation strategies, and establish procedures for defense monitoring, corrective action, and verification. Security's role is to identify potential points of adulteration within the manufacturing process. A company's security team will already be familiar with the facility and understand the type of food manufactured, processed, packed, or stored, as well as the flow of people throughout the facility.

Mitigation strategies require a broad and pointed focus. Security can provide the best technology for wide coverage and also offer the most cost-effective approaches, such as installing a keyed padlock at particular locations. 

Security Technology

High-resolution security cameras equipped with AI analytics have become one of the most effective tools against tampering with the food supply. They are cost-effective and efficient. Bounding boxes are used to determine the location and parameters of an area within a video frame. Security cameras equipped with analytics and alerts can be configured to detect and alert about suspicious activity within predefined bounding boxes. Security professionals and surveillance software are both trained to recognize any deviations from the norm that could lead to product adulteration. Vigilance like this is crucial, as it often takes just a minute or two to change the outcome of whether damage can be prevented or controlled. 

An Example

Recently, a renowned food manufacturer was forced to cease operations, thoroughly clean the entire facility, destroy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products, and issue a recall notice. An examination of the facility by the security team identified potential adulteration points.

The team concluded that one of the needed mitigation strategies was to install analytic cameras. Two of them were placed in areas without video monitoring, and all other cameras on site were replaced. The entire system was installed within three weeks and included intrinsically safe boxes to prevent explosions at a cost of approximately $180,000. 

Two days after installing the new security camera system, a worker was caught on virtual security as he opened an inspection port that had not been visible to security before the upgrade. Then, the worker was observed dumping the contents of a dustpan into the production line. An alarm was sounded instantly, the line was shut down, and cleanup began. The entire incident cost the company approximately $200,000 compared to the millions of dollars it lost due to the initial situation described above.

From regulatory compliance to monitoring employees and quality control, ensuring the safety of the food supply is a challenging task. In addition to the nefarious or accidental tampering of the supply that can shut down operations, break-ins and property damage can also result in inventory loss. The combination of security professionals and the most advanced technology can be one of the most effective ways to keep food products safe and in compliance with regulations. A proactive, real-time security approach will keep the consumers safe while ensuring that reputation and brand loyalty remain strong.