Beyond Basic Produce Food Safety: A Hands-On Analysis

Do you toss and turn at night wondering if your farm is in compliance with new food safety requirements?

Food Safety is for all Farms

Understanding how new produce food safety regulations under FSMA, or the Food Safety Modernization Act, apply to small and medium sized farms has been a challenge for many! No one wants to be responsible for a food safety outbreak and a farm doesn’t have to be large scale to face food safety risks.

For example, blueberry growers are familiar with the annual struggle to keep cedar waxwing birds off their fields because of the fruit loss and damage they can cause. What may not be top of mind however, is that birds and other vertebrates can not only reduce yields, they can also introduce E. coli and other pathogens into the crop.

Compliance Spiced to Perfection

As stimulating as a full day of the complete and official FSMA compliant Produce Safety Alliance food safety training may be, (see available around the state listing here https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/events/🙂 sometimes the best thing to bring a concept home is to consider real life scenarios and case studies and think about how to bring the ideas back and apply them at home.

The UF/IFAS Extension Small Farms Food Safety team is proud to bring an opportunity to do just that. Yes, the training will refresh the memory on the miriad of risks to our food supply that could start at farms big or small. What’s unique about this training, is that we’ll spice up these facts with hands on analysis to inspire your interest!

Wondering if FSMA Produce Safety requirements even pertain to your farm? See this post for a review of differences in requirements based on produce sales revenue. https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/smallfarms/2017/01/11/about-farm-food-safety/

Was your farm under water after Irma?

Flooding following storms is another example of a potential food safety risk, as flood waters can pick up pollutants and deposit them in an otherwise clean field. Wrap your mind around Good Agricultural Practices for food safety here: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_series_food_safety_on_the_farm and we hope to see your excited face at the program!