Westminster, CO -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/06/2013 -- An important FSMA Webinar was held last month by TraceGains. To view the webinar, go to: http://www.tracegains.com/fsma-produce-harpc.html. TraceGains hosted the event entitled, “The Reality of FSMA - New Rules Examined and Explained,” The presenters were Marc Sanchez, Contract In-House Counsel and Consultants LLC with Gary Nowacki, CEO of TraceGains. They gave a demonstration regarding automated compliance with FSMA Record Keeping Requirements.

FSMA Webinar — Produce and HARPC Rules were detailed by Sanchez (J.D./M.S.) on the recently released Produce and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Control rules for the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the first overhaul of food safety standards since 1938. The full extent of those changes is just not coming to light as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) releases FSMA's larger rules. Rules long delayed and eagerly anticipated. If the FDA’s semi-annual regulatory plan is to be trusted, January should be a big month as the agency rolls out at least five FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules, followed by key food label changes.

The current rules released—two of about seven that are expected—are the produce safety rule and the preventative controls (or HARPC) rule. The produce safety rule shifts the landscape for industry to such a degree the FDA admitted it was difficult to form a baseline in estimating the costs of compliance. The preventative standards rule places all food facilities, not matter the size or sophistication, on to an equal playing field by requiring all facilities implement a HACCP style food safety plan.

TraceGains (http://www.tracegains.com) is for quality, purchasing, product development, and other departments, that are burdened with manually managing suppliers and documents. TraceGains delivers full-service supplier, compliance, and regulatory document management solutions, including FSMA and GFSI. Unlike manual, ERP, or traditional document systems, TraceGains extracts data from documents and automatically takes action. TraceGains is proven to empower people to quickly solve problems, speed audits, and simplify continuous product improvement.

By automatically analyzing and scorecarding supplier-provided documentation as it is received—such as certificates of analysis, qualification questionnaires, audit documents and their results, certifications (Kosher, Organic, etc.), insurance certificates, allergen questionnaires, and other import requirements (COOL, C-TPAT, FSMA, GFSI), among others—TraceGains helps food and nutraceutical manufacturers and ingredient processors automate document management, meet regulatory and industry compliance requirements, identify best and worst suppliers, source better with less risk, automatically raise product quality, and painlessly perform or participate in audits, all without needing to involve the IT department to help with complex technology.

TraceGains customers experience on average a 56% reduction in out-of-spec lot receipts, and a 20% reduction in attribute variability, resulting in enhanced continuous improvement, better performing ingredient and raw material inventory, improved cash flow, and long-term brand protection. Follow TraceGains on Twitter at @tracegains.

TraceGains, Inc.
http://www.tracegains.com
Marc Simony, Director of Marketing
pr@tracegains.com
720-465-9400