Source: AGSAFE

Since 2007, following an E. coli breakout, produce growers have followed a strict self-governed food safety program. So now with the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act, what do growers really need to do? To answer that, let’s explore FSMA, its requirements and how it relates to currently utilized food safety programs.

What is FSMA?
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the first mandatory federal standard for the production of fruits and vegetables in the United States. It was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. Before 2011, growers, packers, and the produce industry followed voluntary guidance like the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement. FSMA, which is enforced by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is aimed at preventing, rather than reacting to food safety issues and thus has strict training requirements.

What are the training requirements of FSMA?
Under FSMA all employees must be trained, including managers, farm workers, office staff, volunteers, interns, and even family members. This includes any person who comes in contact with produce covered under this rule. Farm Labor Contractors and their crews are also included. At least one supervisor from the farm must complete food safety training at least equivalent to the standardized curriculum recognized by the FDA.

AgSafe has completed the rigorous process of FDA’s approval and offers the required FSMA Produce Safety Rule class. More recently, the organization has received a contract through the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to conduct multiple classes throughout northern California. For more information on class dates and locations visit http://www.agsafe.org/fsma-produce-safety-rule/.

In addition to specifying who needs training, there are requirements around how the training is conducted. The training must be appropriate for the job that the employee is doing and be given in such a way that training elements can be easily understood. Don’t forget to document any and all trainings given to employees. Training is required when employees are hired and at least once annually thereafter.

It is imperative that employees receive food safety training specific to the job tasks they are performing.

Beyond training, FSMA includes standards focused on health and hygiene, water both for production and postharvest, biological soil amendments, domesticated and wild animals, growing, harvesting, packing and holding activities, and equipment, tools, buildings and sanitation

Health and Hygiene
All personnel should be trained on the principles of proper personal hygiene in correlation to food safety and its importance. Workers have the potential to introduce and spread contamination to fresh produce by carrying infectious human pathogens such as Shigella, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, and others. Something as simple as dirty hands or a sneeze has the potential to spread these pathogens during harvest or packing. This is why FSMA stresses that employees receive proper training pertaining to hygiene.

Agricultural Water
Under FSMA, agricultural water is an area that is covered extensively. Under the rule both water used during production and postharvest is included. There are three main points to consider for
your production water quality: the water source and its quality, application method, and application timing. One significant thing to ask yourself, “does my irrigation water touch the harvestable portion of the produce.” If the answer is yes, the timing of the irrigation and the quality of the water become an even more important factor. The only way to know the quality of your water is through testing.

In addition to irrigation water, FSMA addresses the water used during postharvest activities. In these postharvest areas it is important that you identify potential routes of contamination associated with harvesting, washing, packing, storage, and transportation activities and then implement sanitary practices that can assist in reducing the identified risks. Implementing a cleaning and sanitizing program that addresses these areas of concern is imperative.

Updates on Agricultural Water
FDA has issued a proposed rule for covered produce other than sprouts, that extends the dates for compliance with the agricultural water provisions. The proposal seeks to address questions about the practical implementation of compliance with certain provisions and to consider how they might further reduce the regulatory burden or increase flexibility. The comment period on this proposed extension closed last November. Stay tuned for FDA’s final rule concerning water compliance timelines. Updates can be found at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/09/13/2017-19434/standards-for-the-growing-harvesting-packing-and-holding-of-produce-for-human-consumption-extension.

Biological Soil Amendments
Under FSMA you need to consider the risk of soil amendments, including both biological and synthetic amendments. Under this section you must explain practices for soil amendment handling and application that may help in reducing the risk. Again, record keeping and monitoring is required.

Domesticated and Wild Animals
In this section FSMA requires that growers address contamination associated with wildlife, domestic animals and land use. This means monitoring for the potential for introduction of hazards; is there fecal material, signs of grazing, is the field prone to flooding or runoff? In addition to the site in which you are growing, consider adjacent land use, is it being utilized for animal production? All of these elements require consideration and explanation in your documentation under FSMA.

Excluded Items
The Act does include various exclusions including:
* Produce that is not a raw agricultural commodity (RAC). A RAC is any food consumed in its raw or natural state.
* Food grains, including barley, dent-or flint-corn, sorghum, oats, rye, wheat, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, and oilseeds (e.g. cotton seed, flax seed, rapeseed, soybean, and sunflower seed).
* Produce that is used for personal or on-farm consumption.
* Farms that have an average annual value of produce sold during the previous three-year period of $25,000 or less.
* The FDA list of produce identified as rarely consumed raw. For the list, go to  https://www.fda.gov/downloads/food/guidanceregulation/fsma/ucm576496.pdf.

The Produce Safety Rule under FSMA covers fresh produce, which poses a significant food safety challenge because it is often consumed raw.

How does FSMA interact with other food safety programs?
Farms that are currently third-party certified may already have some of the FSMA program elements in place and therefore will make complying easier. Growers should review their current programs and make adjustments to their existing programs to ensure compliance with FSMA requirements.

Growers will have to develop policies and procedures that will focus on preventing food contamination on the farm. Although a written food safety plan is not required, writing and implementing a food safety plan will help in keeping food safety preventative measures like the water quality monitoring programs, organized and effective. Information, resources and guidance is widely available for growers who need help complying with the rule. The FSMA rule covers the most commonly known risks related to food production.

Compliance Dates
* Date Passed: January 26, 2018: Covered farms for which, on a rolling basis, the average annual monetary value of produce the farm sold during the previous 3-year period is more than $500,000.
* January 28, 2019: Covered farms for which, on a rolling basis, the average annual monetary value of produce the farm sold during the previous 3-year period is more than $250,000 but not more than $500,000 (small businesses).
* January 27, 2020: Covered farms for which, on a rolling basis, the average annual monetary value of produce the farm sold during the previous 3-year period is more than $25,000 but no more than $250,000 (very small businesses).

For more information about FSMA, or any worker safety, human resources, labor relations, pesticide safety, or food safety issues, please visit www.agsafe.org, call (209) 526-4400 or email safeinfo@agsafe.org.

AgSafe is a 501c3 nonprofit providing training, education, outreach and tools in the areas of worker safety, human resources, labor relations, pesticide safety, or food safety for the food and farming industries. Since 1991, AgSafe has educated nearly 75,000 employers, supervisors, and workers about these critical issues.

The NC Agribusiness Council (NCAg) has a strategic collaboration with AgSafe to provide NCAg members with practitioner-based solutions and resources to advance our industries' commitment to a safe and compliant workforce as well as a healthy and safe food supply. As a member of NCAg, your organization is a member of AgSafe. To learn more about AgSafe, visit www.AgSafe.org or if you have a question or need assistance on topics such as worker safety, human resources, pesticide compliance, labor relations and food safety issues, call the NCAg/AgSafe help line at 800.434.6011. This helpline is an exclusive benefit of NCAg Membership.