Fresh-cut processing, packing, and warehousing facilities—if located off the grower’s farm—are among the industry segments that fall under this rule. The Preventive Controls regulation requires each location to write a food safety plan outlining the specific and scientifically endorsed procedures it will use to prevent and address biological, physical, and chemical threats, based on a risk analysis, and to ensure all employees are trained in these procedures.
There is some flexibility built into the law; rather than being government-prescribed, optimal safety measures and training needs are determined by industry best practices. Though FSMA sets forth a new safety regime, the Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC), it is built upon and replaces the traditional Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system.
“Companies my size doing business with retailers have a lot of food safety programs in place already,” comments Rod Bernard, director of food safety at Southern Specialties, Inc., a Florida grower and importer. “We’re considered a small company by the standards of the FDA, but we’re big enough to have a full-time director of food safety. For us, it’s mainly about understanding what is in the law and changing some verbiage.”
The situation is similar for California table grape grower Jasmine Vineyards, Inc. in Delano. “At Jasmine, we sell what we grow,” says Luis Katsurayama, food safety and quality assurance manager. “We’re not bringing in raw materials from anywhere else; it’s when you deal with outside growers that it becomes hard to trace.” Since the company’s existing HACCP plan matched very closely with the requirements under the Preventive Controls rule, only minor tweaks in wording were necessary to meet FSMA protocols. “The actions are the same.”
Bernard, like others in the industry, believes there is still much confusion about the rules, their reach, and implementation. “FSMA is still new and we’ll see how it’s going to play out, since it’s an interpretation of law,” he notes. “The uncertainty is probably the thing that’s most troubling to a lot of people right now.”
Rule #2
Preventative Controls for Animal Food
Does not apply (generally) to the fresh produce industry.
Rule #3
Produce Safety
Primarily affects: Growers
Final rule effective date: January 26, 2016
Compliance deadline rollout: general: January 26, 2018 through January 28, 2019; small businesses: January 28, 2019 through January 26, 2021; very small businesses: January 27, 2020 through January 26, 2021. All growers have an additional two years to comply with some of the agricultural water requirements.
