The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has just announced the grantee awards for its Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP). FSOP is a food safety training grant program authorized under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), and is designed to help the most vulnerable farms and food businesses […]
Food Safety Modernization Act
When It Comes to Food Safety, Farmers Need the Right On-Ramp
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sophia Kruszewski, 202-547-5754, skruszewski@sustainableagriculture.net Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-574, fhoefner@sustainableagriculture.net When It Comes to Food Safety, Farmers Need the Right On-Ramp For many farmers, starting with Good Agricultural Practices may be the best first step Washington, DC, Oct 13, 2016 – Following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) finalization of its “Produce […]
Clear and consistent food safety standards could benefit people and the environment
Editor’s Note: This article is a guest blog by the following researchers from the University of California Berkeley and The Nature Conservancy: Patrick Baur, PhD Candidate, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley; Laura Driscoll, PhD Candidate, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley; Sasha Gennet, Senior Scientist, The Nature Conservancy. Food safety […]
Additional Guidance On the FSMA Farm Definition: Farm vs. Facility Activities
Under the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), not all farms are created equal. Some farms are just farms, and fall under one set of new rules, while other farms (farm mixed-type facilities to be exact) are also deemed to be facilities and fall under an additional set of rules. As of […]
States Receive $22 Million for FSMA Produce Rule Implementation
With FDA’s new food safety rules finalized and compliance clocks ticking, one of most common questions we hear is: who is going to be enforcing these new rules on farms, and how? While many of the details surrounding how exactly the rules will be implemented remain uncertain, last week FDA took a step toward answering […]
FDA Extends Compliance Deadlines for New Food Safety Rules
This fall, many food and farm operations subject to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FMA) Preventive Controls Rule were expected to be coming into compliance with the new food safety requirements for food facilities. However, with significant confusion persisting, particularly over whether a farm is or is not a facility […]
FDA Final Rule Provides Needed Clarity for Local Food Producers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sophia Kruszewski, 810-441-9947 Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-5754 FDA Final Rule Provides Needed Clarity for Local Food Producers Washington, D.C., July 13, 2016 – The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) welcomes the issuance of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final rule amending the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements for food […]
Comprehensive verification toolkit is needed domestically, too
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared as an Op-Ed piece in Food Safety News (FSN) on June 11, 2016. The piece was written by NSAC Policy Staffer, Sophia Kruszewski in response to a June 6, 2016 piece by FSN Editor, Dan Flynn. Dan Flynn’s June 6 article in Food Safety News, “Third-party auditor certification: Not the only tool […]
Seven Major FSMA Rules Now Final
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently finalized two of the remaining major rules required by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA): one governing shippers, carriers, and any other entity involved in transporting food (the “Transport Rule”), and another overseeing intentional acts of adulteration in the food supply (the “Intentional Adulteration Rule”). These […]