The University of Vermont Extension’s Northeast Center to Advance food Safety (UVM’s NECAFS) has released a series of factsheets on produce safety in hydroponic and aquaponic operations for educators, regulators, and producers. The new factsheets guide readers through produce safety considerations specific to hydroponic and aquaponic operations.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we talk to two industry experts from Fresh Express—John Gurrisi, Vice President of Food Safety and Quality, and German Rios, Senior Director of Food Safety and Quality—about the company’s rigorous approach to food safety at all stages of production. Specifically, John and German discuss Fresh Express’ high standards for growers, its tech-enabled traceability system, and how the company has refined its food safety approach over time, among other topics.
As the intended enforcement discretion period for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Agricultural Water Proposed Rule will come to an end on January 26, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a fact sheet to help prepare growers.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture and its partners have developed an online, animated tool with learning modules to help growers comply with the sanitation requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule.
Part of Food Safety Magazine’s series with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), titled, “Evolution of a New Era: Advancing Strategies for Smarter Food Safety,” this episode of Food Safety Matters discusses the agency’s commodity-specific strategies to prevent foodborne illness outbreaks through FDA's Foodborne Outbreak Response Improvement Plan under the New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative. We are joined by Stephen Hughes, Prevention Coordinator in the Office of Food Safety at FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Dr. Jennifer McEntire, Chief Food Safety and Regulatory Officer at the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will conduct targeted sampling of leafy greens as part of the Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan (LGAP). The agency also provided updates on the progress of LGAP and a summary report of a 2021 sampling assignment.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we interview Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), about his work leading FDA's Toxic Elements Working Group, as well as the agency’s efforts and considerations related to the Closer to Zero initiative, which aims to reduce the health risks posed by toxic elements in the U.S. baby food supply. We also review the results of FDA's Total Diet Study (TDS) related to toxic elements in baby food samples.
Additionally, we spoke to Kruti Ravaliya, M.S., Consumer Safety Officer in the Division of Produce Safety at FDA's CFSAN, about how FDA intends to implement Subpart E of the Produce Safety Rule—the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Proposed Rule on Agricultural Water—including the recently extended compliance dates for pre-harvest agricultural water requirements. Finally, Bob Ferguson, President of Strategic Consulting Inc., speaks about his latest Food Safety Insights column on the projects and priorities that food processors put on hold during the pandemic and are now revisiting.
The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) published a guidance that clarifies the differences between mandatory requirements of the Produce Safety Rule (PSR) and multiple U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) audits.
A recent literature review explores the microbiological contamination risk associated with non-harvestable dropped produce, as defined by the Produce Safety Rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act.
