Farms with produce sales between $250,000 and $500,000 have until January 2019 to comply, and farms with sales between $25,000 and $250,000 have until January 2020. The biggest growers – those who sell more than $500,000 worth of produce each year – must begin complying with the new regulations in January 2018. There are also provisions requiring farmers to test water that comes into contact with fresh produce if that water comes from a source other than a municipal water source. They’ll be looking for things like proper application of manure, bathroom and sanitation facilities for workers, and appropriate worker training to ensure proper sanitation practices occur in fields and packinghouses. The new rules will empower the FDA to conduct on-farm inspections, much as they already do for food processing plants and restaurants. “The purpose of the Produce Safety Alliance is to help growers reduce whatever risks there may be and make produce as safe as it can possibly be.” Risks can be found in things that come into contact with fresh produce, such as soil, water and workers’ hands,” said Betsy Bihn, a senior extension associate in the Department of Food Science who directs the Produce Safety Alliance. “Fresh fruits and vegetables are good for you – they reduce heart disease and risks for certain types of cancer, and help in maintenance of a healthy weight, but there are food safety risks in the production environment because produce is grown in nature, under open skies. The trainers will work throughout the country and internationally to help growers and packers prepare their operations for FSMA compliance. The alliance recently began holding Train-the-Trainer courses nationwide that allow extension educators to implement their training by guiding fresh fruit and vegetable farmers and packers in practices that will protect the nation’s food supply. This involved creating working committees with partners across the country, hosting focus groups with farmers and working closely with the FDA to make sure the curriculum reflects expectations outlined in the regulations.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) tapped Cornell to lead the Produce Safety Alliance, tasked with training growers to understand and implement the provisions with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule.īased in Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, the Produce Safety Alliance has spent the past four years developing a nationwide Grower Training Curriculum.
For rules governing fresh produce, the FDA and U.S. Since the act’s passage, the FDA has worked to develop regulations that meet the requirements of the FSMA, and has provided funding to facilitate education and outreach. The law marked the biggest overhaul of federal oversight in the food industry since the 1930s and shifted the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) focus from investigating foodborne illness outbreaks to preventing them. The act, signed by President Barack Obama in 2011, was prompted by multiple high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks associated with many different food items, including chicken, peanut butter and cantaloupe. Cornell is leading a national alliance aimed at improving the safety of fresh produce and helping fruit and vegetable growers meet new regulatory requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
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