The act requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enact and enforce regulations to protect the food supply in case of terrorist attack. Every food processing company in the U.S., except for farms and restaurants, is required to follow the FDA's regulations.
The FDA wants food companies to account for every link in their supply chains. Food companies and manufacturers will have to maintain records for each batch of food, says Jay Jeffries, program manager for Wonderware's eCompliance Solutions, software that can do the necessary record keeping functions.
Although this can be done with a paper trail, Jeffries says it would be difficult. The challenge is that the companies must provide a large amount of specific, detailed information within several hours after an investigation begins, he explains. Electronic records greatly simplify and accelerate the data-gathering process.
