How does the United States regulate the quality and safety of canned food?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for formulating, issuing and updating technical regulations related to the quality and safety of canned food in the United States. The United States Federal Regulations 21CFR Part 113 regulates the processing of low-acid canned food products and how to control various indicators (such as water activity, PH value, sterilization index, etc.) in the production process of canned products. 21 kinds of canned fruits, such as canned applesauce, canned apricots, canned berries, canned cherries, etc., are regulated in each section of Part 145 of Federal Regulations 21CFR. The main requirement is to prevent food spoilage, and all kinds of canned products must be heat-treated before or after being sealed and packaged. In addition, the remaining regulations are related to product quality requirements, including product raw material requirements, usable filling media, optional ingredients (including food additives, nutritional fortifiers, etc.), as well as product labeling and nutrition claims requirements. In addition, the filling amount of the product and the determination of whether the batch of products is qualified are stipulated, that is, the sampling, random inspection and product qualification determination procedures are stipulated. The United States has technical regulations on the quality and safety of canned vegetables in Part 155 of 2CFR, involving 10 types of canned beans, canned corn, non-sweet corn, and canned peas. In addition to requiring heat treatment before or after the production of sealed packaging, the rest of the regulations are mainly related to product quality, including product raw material range and quality requirements, product classification, optional ingredients (including certain additives), and types of canning media, as well as specific requirements for product labelling and claims, etc. Part 161 of 21CFR in the United States regulates the quality and safety of some canned aquatic products, including canned oysters, canned chinook salmon, canned wet-packed shrimp and canned tuna. The technical regulations clearly stipulate that canned product need to be thermally processed before being sealed and packaged to prevent spoilage. In addition, the categories of product raw materials are clearly defined, as well as product types, container filling, packaging forms, additive use, as well as labels and claims, products qualification judgment, etc.