The FDA’s proposed food safety rule, entitled “Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food,” presents significant change for all involved in the food transportation industry. In a previous issue of Setting the Table, we discussed some of these changes that were specific to warehouses.1 In this issue, however, we examine the rule’s potential to expose carriers of temperature controlled food to greater liability for freight claims than ever before.

The proposed rule mandates a series of procedures to be followed by shippers, carriers, and receivers of food. A failure to comply with these rules would render food to be considered “adulterated” within the meaning of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and thus unfit for consumption. While the proposed rule’s aim is laudable, the rule’s provisions regarding temperature controlled food put carriers in a particularly bad position.