#FoodSafetyModernizationAct

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Welcome to the Maryland Risk Management Education Blog, provided by the University of Maryland Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and features the work of the Maryland Crop Insurance Education program and the University of Maryland - MPowering the State's Agriculture Law Education Initiative, a University of Maryland Extension Signature Program. This blog provides readers with information on risk management issues important to Maryland agriculture, upcoming events, and new materials that may interest readers.

Recent FDA Guidance on FSMA Produce Safety Rule and Preventive Controls Rule

Nicole Cook

Oct 23, 2018
7 min

Recent FDA Guidance on FSMA Produce Safety Rule and Preventive Controls Rule

By Nicole Cook This article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. If you’ve been following this blog for news about updates about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), then yout know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been busy over the past year issuing new guidance on its FSMA’s Produce Safety and Preventive Controls rules. Regulatory agencies, like the FDA, issue “Guidance” and “Fact Sheets” to answer specific qu

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November Food Safety Modernization Act Trainings- Do You Need to Attend?

Sarah Everhart

Nov 8, 2017
3 min

November Food Safety Modernization Act Trainings- Do You Need to Attend?

By Sarah Everhart This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. The University of Maryland, University of Maryland Extension, and Maryland Department of Agriculture will host two Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Alliance Grower Trainings this fall. The first is scheduled for Monday, November 27 at the Cecil County Extension office in Elkton (register here), and the second is scheduled for Thursday, November 30 at the

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Admin

Sep 22, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup Sept. 22nd

By Sarah Fielder Updated Right-to-Farm Law Fact Sheet is Now Available Maryland producers and neighbors often have questions on the state’s right-to-farm law. The General Assembly updated the law to include commercial seafood operations. To aid these operations and ag operations, Paul Goeringer and Lori Lynch updated their popular fact sheet to reflect the changes. You can check out the fact sheet, here https://go.umd.edu/RTFMD. Save the Date for the Ag Outlook and Policy

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Admin

Feb 24, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup Feb. 24th

By Sarah Fielder U.S. Loses 8,000 Farms and a Million Acres of Farmland. A report released this week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that the number of farms in the country has fallen by 8,000 from 2015 to 2016 and total land in farms decreased by a million acres during that year. To read the full story click here: https://go.umd.edu/qp5 Food Safety Modernization Act (Produce Safety Rule) Training at UMES March 6, 2017. Register by March 1st online at https://go

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Admin

Feb 17, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup Feb. 17th

By MD Risk Management Blog Farmers Encouraged to Attend Trainings on Food Safety Modernization Act The Maryland Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the University of Maryland and University of Maryland Extension, is offering three trainings for food safety: 1) FDA-approved training curriculum for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Rule, 2) FDA approved training curriculum for FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule, and 3) Basic GAP training. F

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Who Needs To Attend a Training for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)?

Sarah Everhart

Nov 23, 2016
3 min

Who Needs To Attend a Training for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)?

By Sarah Everhart If you are a regular reader of this blog, you have likely read many posts in the past year on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the Produce Safety and Preventive Controls Rules. Although we have tried to make FSMA understandable, it is a dense federal law with many varying requirements and compliance dates depending on the type and size of a farmer’s operation. Recently, FSMA training courses available to growers in 2017 were announced. The pur

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Sarah Everhart

Aug 24, 2016
2 min

FDA Inspections on the Farm

By Sarah Everhart Although farmers might not be surprised to face an inspection from a state agency such as the Maryland Departments of Agriculture or Environment, they may be unprepared for an inspection from the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Understanding the legal authority and permissible scope of an FDA inspection can alleviate confusion surrounding this type of inspection and help the process run a bit smoother. The federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDC

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Wondering if Food Safety Modernization Act Applies to You?

Sarah Everhart

Aug 16, 2016
1 min

Wondering if Food Safety Modernization Act Applies to You?

By Sarah Everhart and Ashley Ellixson The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has created an easy to follow flowchart for farmers to use to figure out if the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), specifically the Produce and Preventive Controls Rules, apply to their operation. Although the legal specialists at ALEI have posted about the FSMA Produce and Preventive Rules in the past we wanted to share this resource to answer the complex question of exactly to whom this

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FDA Issues Final Rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food

Admin

May 4, 2016
3 min

FDA Issues Final Rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food

By Ashley Ellixson This article first appeared in the April 26th Edition of the Delmarva Farmer. If you have not heard of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) yet, you will likely be hearing about it more this year. We have also written posts on the blog! What is FSMA? In short, it is legislation amending the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to mandate preventive-based controls across the food supply chain

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Top 10 Legal Developments in Agriculture: 2015 in Review

Paul Goeringer

Dec 9, 2015
5 min

Top 10 Legal Developments in Agriculture: 2015 in Review

This post should not be construed as legal advice. We are slowly edging towards the end of 2015 (insert joke about the year flying by). So it is time to reflect on the top ten legal developments impacting Maryland agriculture and U.S. agriculture this year. 1. Chesapeake Bay TMDL Upheld. (http://go.umd.edu/BayTMDL). On July 6, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to set a total daily maximum load (TMDL) for the Ch

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FSMA Final Rule On Produce Safety Is Released

Admin

Nov 19, 2015
2 min

FSMA Final Rule On Produce Safety Is Released

By Rohan V. Tikekar, Ph.D The final rule on fresh produce safety has been released by the US FDA on November 13, 2015. The new rule addresses requirements in five key areas pertaining to produce safety. These are agricultural water; biological soil amendments; sprouts, domesticated and wild animals; worker training and health and hygiene; and equipment, tools and building. The published rule includes several specific exemptions and the compliance dates vary based on the size

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The Food Safety Modernization Act: Imported Food Safety

Sarah Everhart

Jun 9, 2015
4 min

The Food Safety Modernization Act: Imported Food Safety

By Sarah Everhart Today we will continue our look at the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) with a detailed explanation of the provisions of the law related to imported food safety. To date, we have previously looked at the preventive controls rule, the produce safety rule, inspection and compliance and response and enhanced relationships. Hopefully, the FSMA blog post series has given you an introduction to the important elements of the law. Imported Food Safety The FSMA

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The Food Safety Modernization Act: Response and Enhanced Relationships

Admin

Apr 7, 2015
2 min

The Food Safety Modernization Act: Response and Enhanced Relationships

By Ashley Ellixson Today we will complete our look at the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) with a more detailed explanation of the response and enhanced relationships elements of the rule. To date, we have previously looked at the preventive controls rule, the produce safety rule, and inspection and compliance. In no way have my blog posts covered every item laid out in the FSMA, but over the last few weeks we have covered the five major elements labeled as critical to

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The Food Safety Modernization Act: Inspection and Compliance

Admin

Mar 31, 2015
3 min

The Food Safety Modernization Act: Inspection and Compliance

By Ashley Ellixson Our Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) overview continues today with a look at the inspection and compliance section. Not only does FSMA outline rules for farms and facilities but it also lays out the role of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in carrying out FSMA rules and ensuring compliance. This section is referred to as inspection and compliance and can be broken down into four main areas: 1) records and records access, 2) recalls, 3) registrat

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Mar 24, 2015
4 min

Food Safety Modernization Act: The Produce Safety Rule

By Ashley Ellixson Today I am continuing our overview of the FSMA with a more detailed look at the Produce Safety Rule (Produce Rule). Feel free to reference my first two posts here and here where I explain briefly what the FSMA is and give a detailed look at the Preventive Controls Rule. The Produce Safety Rule The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released proposed revisions to the Produce Rule (Section 105) of FSMA on September 19, 2014 with a comment period that ended D

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Food Safety Modernization Act: The Preventive Controls Rule

Admin

Mar 17, 2015
5 min

Food Safety Modernization Act: The Preventive Controls Rule

By Ashley Ellixson As promised, I will continue the series on the Food Modernization Act (FSMA) today with a closer look at whom FSMA applies to and to what extent it affects those impacted. If you would like a quick overview or missed my first post on FSMA, you can read it here. I will be focusing on the five key areas I discussed in that blog post from here on out. Today I am going to look more closely at the Preventive Controls (aka Preventive Rule). This rule is a big p

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Introduction to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

Admin

Mar 10, 2015
2 min

Introduction to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

By Ashley Ellixson The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 2011 that 48 million people (or 1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year of foodborne diseases. While these are startling numbers, this is a largely preventable issue according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a result of this issue, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in December 2010. What is FSMA? In short, it is legis

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Maryland’s Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Program

Sarah Everhart

Mar 5, 2015
2 min

Maryland’s Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Program

By Sarah Everhart By authority granted by Maryland Code, Agriculture Article, Section 10-602 the Secretary of Agriculture may adopt voluntary programs related to the certification of farm products. Using this authority, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) created the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) program to improve food safety in the production and packing of fruits and vegetables. GAP refers to farming methods which reduce the likelihood of contaminating produc

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