21.1 Introduction
What is good manufacturing practice' (GMP) in relation to food? In the USA the term GMP has a legal status ± it is codified in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) Regulations for foods ± including a general regulation covering all foods^1 and specific regulations for specific food categories.2±5It is very clear that these are wholly concerned with hygiene requirements for food safety. It is interesting to note that among the definitions provided, there is no definition ofgood manufacturing practice' ± in
the absence of which it is assumed to consist of the sum total of the stated
regulatory requirements. In May 2004 the FDA announced its plans and processes
for modernising the GMPs used for foods, which were last revised in 1986.^6
Outside the USA, GMP in its wider aspects has been authoritatively defined
and detailed since 1986 by the four successive editions of the Institute of Food
Science & Technology's Food and Drink ± Good Manufacturing Practice: A Guide to its Responsible Managementfl',^7 familiarly known asthe IFST GMP
Guide'. It is a tribute to the IFST that it is impossible in this chapter to avoid
reflecting the nature, structure or subject matter of what has been so effectively
expounded at length in the IFST GMP Guide. Although developed in the UK/EU
context, when taken in conjunction with local food regulations in different
countries, it has wide international application. Within the USA the approach
described here as GMP has been taken in a combination of other designated
systems, one of which is standard operating procedures (SOPs) (see Chapter 22).
21
Good manufacturing practice (GMP)
in the food industry*
J. R. Blanchfield, Consultant, UK
*This chapter copyrightflInstitute of Food Science & Technology