Understanding Food Grade Warehouse Requirements

Does your company require a food-grade warehouse? If so, you must adhere to the Food and Drug Administration's safety guidelines.

If you don't respect the FDA's food-grade warehouse requirements, you could be subject to fines or the suspension of your business license.

In this blog, we'll cover a few best practices to help you better understand food safety warehouse requirements.

6 Good Warehouse Practices for the Food Industry

In January 2011, the FDA enacted the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The law enhances safety best practices for food-handling facilities in two ways: it prevents contaminated food from being disseminated to the general public; it stops retaliation against workers who report food safety issues.

Any warehouse that fails to meet stringent requirements will be compelled to shut down operations. These best practices are great ways to stay in compliance:

Consider Health and Sanitation Matters

If you operate a food storage warehouse but don't maintain cleanliness, you could face many issues, including rodent infestations, fungal growth, bacterial growth, and other pests. It's also essential to stay alert so you can spot problems immediately and take corrective action.

Beware of Cross-Contamination

Cross-contamination can happen more easily than you might think. For example, it can come from a product absorbing the odors of its packaging, or even from another product. You'll need to be strategic about what you store in your food storage warehouse.

Ensure You're Registered

All food packing, storage, processing, and manufacturing facilities are required to register with the FDA. If you registered before October 1, 2012, you need to re-register because the FDA updated its registration process that year.

You must also renew your registration within the last three months of every even-numbered year. The registration information must include contact details for the facility in question and stipulate that the FDA has the right to enter the facility for inspections.

Put Prevention Plan in Place

You must create a written plan detailing issues that could jeopardize food safety, the remedy for each, and the steps your company takes to prevent them from arising.

Furthermore, you must train workers to follow the safety procedures in the written plan and keep it available to the FDA for review upon request.

Inspections Are Part of the Process

Any food warehouse in the country must submit to inspection within 5 years of the FSMA's effective date, with reinspections every 36 months.

The FDA was mandated to inspect no fewer than 600 facilities in the first year after the enactment of the FSMA and double that number in subsequent years. If a foreign warehouse doesn't allow its facility to be inspected, the FDA may block the non-compliant entity from exporting food products to the U.S.

Recall Stipulations Need to Be Taken Seriously

The FDA has the authority to issue a recall order for any food that may be contaminated or improperly labeled. Before that occurs, the warehouse deemed in violation must be notified of the infraction and given the opportunity to issue a voluntary recall.

But if the offending party fails to do so within a reasonable time frame, the FDA will order the immediate shutdown of its processing and distribution activities.

Moreover, the warehouse must accept returns of existing products and issue full refunds to customers.



FW Warehousing Has the Food-Grade Warehousing Space You Need

Are you looking for food-grade storage options from a reputable company? At FW Warehousing, we offer food-grade warehousing solutions that align with FDA guidelines. We offer our clients cost-effective solutions for all of their food and beverage warehousing needs, including cold storage and temperature-controlled options.

When you work with FW Logistics, you can rest assured knowing that your products will remain safe during the storage phase of your supply chain operations. Manufacturers from across the country directly ship their products to our food-grade warehouse for storage and distribution.

We have also earned critical certifications like a Superior Rating from AIB International, GMP Certification, and ISO 9001.

Are you ready to explore how our food-grade warehousing solutions can help your business? Do you perhaps need help determining how much space you need? Get in touch to get the information you need to make an informed decision.