The government, in the form of the USDA and the FDA, regulates permissible levels of non-hazardous, naturally occurring, unavoidable defects such as pests, contaminants, and pest damage on horticultural crops intended for processed foods. The stated goal of these regulations is to insure a food supply free of adulterated products while recognizing the economic impracticality of growing, harvesting, or processing raw products that are totally defect free. FDA has primary responsibility for regulating processed foods and has set defect criteria for specific products and sometimes for specific processes such as canning or freezing. These criteria are termed Defect Action Levels and are based on pest ecology, details of how the crop is grown, harvested, and processed, and accumulated findings on the type and distribution of defects encountered in the past. For products without specific Defect Action Levels, FDA decides acceptable levels on a case-by-case basis. In contrast to the FDA, the USDA does not maintain an extensive list of Defect Action Levels for most products. USDA has established more general defect guidelines for use by Agricultural Marketing Service inspectors as part of grading programs, though by agreement FDA Defect Action Levels are used where applicable. Because governmental defect guidelines represent the limit beyond which the FDA will regard a food product as adulterated, both horticultural crop producers and processors may find knowledge of what Defect Action Levels are and how they are set and interpreted helpful in establishing quality assurance programs.
Keywords: FQPA
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