The long-awaited final rule by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on gluten-free labeling was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 5. This voluntary rule became effective on Sept. 4, with the compliance date set for Aug. 5, 2014.
Allergens were the number-one reason for food recalls in North America in 2011, and bakery products were one of the most frequent foods recalled. This was the first time that allergen recalls outpaced the number of food recalls due to microbiological contamination.
The emphasis on food safety has been constantly shifting and evolving. Traceability was an initial focus; then came the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) practices, which impacted manufacturing. More recently, the Global Food Initiative was created to improve food safety supply chain management.