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Guidance for Industry: Seafood HACCP and the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

FinalHuman Foods Program12/21/2021

Description

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) (Pub. L. 111-353) enables the FDA to better protect public health by helping to ensure the safety and security of the food supply. It requires FDA to promulgate food safety rules that focus on preventing food safety issues rather than relying on detecting issues and reacting to them after they occur. FSMA recognizes that FDA has previously established a preventive control type regulation for fish and fishery products (Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR) part 123, the seafood HACCP regulation) based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept. See FSMA §§ 103(a), 103(f), 105(d), and 301 (§§ 418(j) and 805(e) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. §§ 350g(j), 350g note, 350h note, and 384a(e))). The seafood HACCP regulation requires seafood processors to identify food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur and to develop plans for the control of those hazards.

Scope & Applicability

Product Classes

3
Seafood

Product category subject to FDA HACCP regulations.; Presence, detection and growth of Listeria monocytogenes.

Raw Agricultural Commodity

Sprouts in their raw or natural state

fish and fishery products

Subject to specific HACCP and FSVP exemptions.

Stakeholders

6
seafood processors

Entities required to identify food safety hazards and develop control plans

very small business

IA regulation does not apply to a very small business

importers

Entities required to comply with requirements for imported seafood products

Seafood Processor

Entity responsible for implementing HACCP and complying with part 117.

Qualified Individual

Person qualified to prepare translations

Importer

Must comply with registration if meeting facility/responsible person definitions

Identified Hazards

Hazards

3
Intentional Adulteration

Risks addressed by food defense systems

allergen cross-contact

Explicit regulatory text in Subpart B of part 117 addresses this

Radiological Hazards

A type of chemical hazard that must be considered in hazard analysis.

Related CFR Sections (8)

Related Warning Letters (10)

  • Seafood HACCP/CGMP for Foods/Adulterated/Insanitary Conditions

    Harbor Marine Product Inc.

    2025-12-16
  • CGMP/Food/Prepared, Packed or Held Under Insanitary Conditions/Adulterated/L. monocytogenes

    Compass Group USA

    2025-11-11
  • CGMP/Food/Prepared, Packed or Held Under Insanitary Conditions/Adulterated

    Gracie's Kitchens, Inc.

    2025-09-30
  • CGMP/Food/Prepared, Packed or Held Under Insanitary Conditions/Adulterated

    Hans Bakery Inc. d/b/a Andersen’s Bakery

    2025-09-30
  • CGMP/Food/Prepared, Packed or Held Under Insanitary Conditions/Adulterated

    Tan Nam Corporation

    2025-09-30
  • Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP)

    Jalisco Fresh Produce, Inc.

    2025-09-09
  • Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP)

    Eurobread Inc. dba First Harvest

    2025-08-26
  • Seafood HACCP/CGMP for Foods/Adulterated

    Chaohu Daxin Foodstuffs Co., Ltd.

    2025-08-19
  • CGMP/Food/Prepared, Packed or Held Under Insanitary Conditions/Adulterated

    Marin Baking LLC

    2025-06-24
  • Seafood HACCP/CGMP for Foods/Adulterated/Insanitary Conditions

    Yongdae Hwangtae Union Corp Daeryung

    2025-06-24

See Also (8)