The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Final Rule on Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration (21 CFR Part 121) (IA Rule) regulation is intended to protect food from intentional acts of adulteration where there is an intent to cause wide scale public health harm. The regulation requires covered facilities to prepare, or have prepared, and implement a written food defense plan (21 CFR 121.126) and conduct a reanalysis of the food defense plan (21 CFR 121.157). The regulation further requires that individuals preparing the food defense plan and performing reanalysis “have successfully completed training for the specific function at least equivalent to that received under a standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by FDA or be otherwise qualified through job experience to conduct the activities” (21 CFR 121.4(c)(2)). This training developed by the FSPCA is the “standardized curriculum” recognized by FDA; successfully completing this course is one way to meet this training requirement. Although this training contains some information about incorporating vulnerability assessments and mitigation strategies into a food defense plan, this training is not intended to be the standardized curriculum for food defense qualified individuals responsible for  conducting a vulnerability assessment or identifying and explaining mitigation strategies.

See other applicable FSPCA IA courses.