With inspections on the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule slated to begin in 2019 and compliance dates for qualified food facilities coming up this September, time is of the essence for farmers and food enterprises to make sure they know whether and to what extent they are affected by the latest FSMA regulations.
To assist in making that determination, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) has updated our “FSMA Flowchart” to reflect the inflation-adjusted cutoffs for farms and small food businesses assessing their level of compliance this year. Additionally, we have partnered with our California-based member Community Alliance with Family Farmers to translate the flowchart into Spanish: click here for our FSMA Diagrama de flujo Español.
A few things to keep in mind:
- These rules are complex! Our flowchart isn’t intended to provide you with all the information you need to comply with the rules. The chart is intended to help you: determine whether and to what extent your farm or food business might be impacted by the FSMA rules; figure out what questions you need to be asking; and provide suggestions on where to go for more information.
- Regardless of whether you are covered by FSMA or not, each farm and food business has a duty to take the necessary steps to minimize the risks of contamination in your operation and keep adulterated food from entering the food supply. Plus, buyers are increasingly looking for evidence of food safety practices (i.e., a GAP audit), so even if you are exempt or qualified exempt, we still encourage you to look into food safety training and implement food safety practices appropriate to your operation.
Additional Resources
Special Report: Understanding FDA’s FSMA Rule for Produce Farms
- Exemptions and modified requirements
- Requirements for fully covered farms
Special Report: Understanding FDA’s FSMA Rule for Food Facilities
- Exemptions for farms and retail food establishments
- Modified requirements for low-risk on-farm processing and very small businesses
- Requirements for fully covered processors
Access our FSMA Resource Center here.