Top food safety violations of 2017

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its inspection data for the 2017 fiscal year, which is a general overview of the violations the agency cited during routine food facility inspections. Now, a list of the most common food safety violations has been compiled.

• Lack of sanitation monitoring. The FDA found that many facilities don’t have sanitation monitoring plans, at least not ones adequate to meet current good manufacturing practices (CGMPs). A good sanitation monitoring program involves verifying the cleanliness of food contact surfaces with ATP testing, protein testing and/or allergen testing.


• Poor general facility cleanliness. Some facilities either did not maintain a proper level of cleanliness, or their facilities were constructed in such a way that proper sanitation wasn’t possible. Sanitation validation, the process of ensuring the effectiveness of specific cleaning methods, is a way to prevent this kind of citation.


• Poor implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans. The FDA found that many facilities weren’t actually carrying out procedures described in their HACCP plans for food safety. HACCP plans ensure that preventive and corrective measures are taken anywhere that hazards might occur in the production environment.


• Ineffective pest screening. Many facilities didn’t do enough to keep pests out of food production areas. In fact, this was the most commonly cited violation of all. The FDA requires food manufacturers to document a pest management policy to be conducted with a licensed pest control professional.


• Not enough reasonable precautions. If a facility didn’t take enough steps to prevent regular production activities from contaminating food, it could have received an FDA citation. This might include not monitoring time and temperature when preparing food.

The violations in 2017 are very similar to those of previous years.

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