New FDA Rules For Produce Growers – AG Matters

The FDA has implemented new rules regarding farm produce.  In a nutshell, it provides for regulations to ensure public health and enforces US standards on imports.  Cornell Cooperative Extension's Jeff Miller cuts through the legalese to explain the new regulations.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized rules implementing The Food Safety Modernization Act that, for the first time, establish enforceable safety standards for produce farms and make importers accountable for verifying that imported food meets U S safety standards. The agency also issued a rule establishing a program for the accreditation of third-party certification bodies (auditors) to conduct food safety audits of foreign food facilities.

The produce safety rule establishes science based standards for growing, harvesting, packing and holding produce that are designed to work effectively for food safety across the wide diversity of produce farms. The standards in the rule include requirements for water quality, employee health and hygiene, wild and domestic animals, biological soil amendments of animal origin like manure and compost and equipment, tools and buildings.

When followed the standards are designed to minimize the risk of serious illness or death from the consumption of contaminated produce. Public comments and input from hundreds of farmers, meetings and listening sessions have shaped the rule into one that will reduce the risk of harmful contamination while also allowing appropriate flexibility for farmers and producers.

The Foreign Supplier Verification Programs rule requires food importers to verify that foreign suppliers are producing food in a manner that meets U S Safety standards and that are achieving the same level of food safety as domestic farms and food facilities. The final rule ensures that importers conduct verification activities, such as audits of a supplier’s facility, sampling and testing of food, or a review of the supplier’s relevant food safety records, based on the risks linked to the imported food and the performance of the foreign supplier.

Get more details on the Food Modernization Act at the FDA's website.

SOURCE: Cornell Cooperative Extension - Jeff Miller