by Bob Benenson, FamilyFarmed
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released new regulations for produce under the 2010 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), bringing the difficult process of implementing this major law to closure after nearly five years.
These rules pertain to the growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce intended for human consumption. The release of this rule was the second in a two-stage process, which begin in September with the final food safety regulations for food processors.
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition logo
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, based on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., has been deeply engaged in this rule-making process, defending the interests of sustainable producers and small and medium-sized growers, to make sure the financial and logistical burdens placed on them by the new law are understood by policy makers and mitigated to the greatest extent possible.
So there is no better source for information about the new regulations, to whom they apply and what they require than the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, which has published a two-part series of blog posts on the subject that we share with you here.
Part one addresses those farms that may be fully or partially exempt from the Produce rule.
Part two provides a very comprehensive and detailed overview of what the Produce Rule requires of farms that are covered by the rule.
If you are directly affected by the new FSMA rules or simply have a strong interest in food safety, we urge you to click the links above and read all about it.