IRTA, FDA discuss refrigerated transportation best practices

Representatives from the U.S. FDA attended a board of directors meeting for the International Refrigerated Transportation Association (IRTA), a partner of the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), on Thursday, Jan. 12. The FDA representatives in attendance were instrumental in the development and writing of the FDA’s Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Rule (STF) and provided details on the STF rule to the group.

In 2016, IRTA published the IRTA Refrigerated Transportation Best Practices Guide, a guide to assist shippers, carriers, loaders, and receivers in understanding the STF rule and the best practices they need to observe to maintain compliance with the rule. The guide has since been downloaded by over 600 industry stakeholders, IRTA reports.

Most recently, representatives of industry associations including the American Frozen Food Institute, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and the American Trucking Associations participated in a roundtable hosted by IRTA in Washington, D.C. during GCCA’s Assembly of Committees in August 2016.

IRTA is working collaboratively with FDA to further refine the IRTA Refrigerated Transportation Best Practices Guide as a primary guidance document to inform the perishables industry of important best practices.

Since its publication, the STF rule has been the focus of a number of GCCA-led discussions at food industry events, including the International Baking Industry Expo and Northwest Food & Beverage World, to increase overall awareness of the rule and help those impacted understand their roles in the movement of food as defined by the rule.

The guide is free and available to all interested parties for download on the GCCA website at www.gcca.org/resources/transportation-guide. Click here for a recording of GCCA’s recent webinar detailing the STF rule and how to use the guide.