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February 13, 2019
Hello Produce Safety Alliance Members:
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Did you know that while Americans are consuming more fruits and vegetables than in 1970, the average U.S. diet still falls short of the recommendations in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines? Now more than ever before, contributions to the field of produce safety help ensure that a safe, abundant, and affordable supply of produce is available to feed our families and communities, while encouraging them to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet.
We draw your attention to this statistic as a reminder of the bigger picture within our food system, and as a thank you for your commitment to producing safe food and/or your efforts in educating those within the industry about produce safety practices.
2019 is sure to bring lots of learning opportunities as implementation dates come into effect, and in this newsletter you will find pertinent updates from FDA on what to expect from routine inspections, upcoming Train-the-Trainer Course opportunities, and new resources.
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FDA Releases Information About Produce Safety Inspections
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Routine inspections to verify compliance with the requirements of the Produce Safety Rule established by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act will begin this spring for large farms. In preparation for inspections, additional resources to support compliance with the Produce Safety Rule were released by FDA last week. Visit the following links for more information:
- Produce Safety Inspections Webpage
- "What to Expect of a Regulatory Inspection” Factsheet
- FDA Voices Article: Paving the Road to Produce Safety Rule Inspections
- Produce Farm Inspection Observation Form FDA 4056
- Note: The link for FDA Form 4056 may not open in Google Chrome browsers; consider opening in a different internet browser. This form represents a new way of providing feedback to farms and documenting observations that is different from FDA's traditional process of reporting observations made during an inspection, which has historically been through the FDA 483 Inspectional Observations Form. The new form (FDA 4056) is designed around the specific provisions in the Produce Safety Rule and was developed to help farmers better understand what is being examined in an inspection. FDA will issue the new 4056 form at the end of every farm inspection, whether or not any non-compliance issues were identified, to help farmers understand what is being examined in an inspection and how any observation relates to the regulation. FDA is working with states to promote consistency among inspections through use of the new form.
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FDA Releases Report on Investigation into the Fall 2018 Outbreak of Illnesses Tied to Romaine Lettuce
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In early November 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state partners and Canadian Officials (Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency) began to investigate an outbreak of
E. coli
O157:H7 infections in multiple U.S. states and Canadian provinces. This outbreak was declared over in the U.S. by the CDC on January 9, 2019. In total, there were 62 reported illnesses in 16 states and the District of Columbia, resulting in 25 hospitalizations and two cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). There were no deaths.
Today, FDA released an overview of the investigation that led the agency to issue a public health advisory shortly before Thanksgiving warning consumers not to eat romaine lettuce and asking the industry to remove these greens from store shelves.
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Reminder: Comments on the Produce Safety Rule Draft Guidance Due April 22, 2019
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Reminder:
Comments to the Produce Safety Rule draft guidance are due on April 22, 2019. To submit electronic comments, go to: https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket No. FDA-2018-D-3631.
Written comments must be sent to:
Docket Management Staff (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2018-D-3631.
The electronic filing system will accept comments until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of April 22, 2019. Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date.
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Upcoming PSA Train-the-Trainer Courses
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Phoenix, AZ, USA: 3/14/2019 - 3/15/2019
Charleston, SC, USA: 3/21/2019 - 3/22/2019
- Location: 2700 Savannah Hwy, Charleston, SC 29414, USA
- Contact Information: Kristin Woods, Phone: 251-753-1164
- Cost: $22.85 Growers; $187.29 Trainers; Course #: SC-190321-INT | Registration Information
- Training Language: English
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Creating a Database of Water Quality Testing Labs
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Agricultural Extension, State Departments of Agriculture or Health, and other organizations work, often independently, to meet the needs of farmers within their areas. By virtue of a moderate level of collaborative effort, these independent products could be inter-compatible in a way that would meet farmer needs regionally or even nationally. In particular, farmers that are near state borders may benefit from having access to lab availability information from states on both sides of the border. The procedure used by Michigan State University Extension to build a database-driven Google Map of water labs, outlined in the following resource documents, is one way to begin working collaboratively to fulfill this vision.
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New & Improved Trainer Directory
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The PSA recently launched a new, more user-friendly version of its
Trainer Directory
. Now, you can search for PSA Trainers, Lead Trainers, and Trainers-of-Trainers by name, business, language, state, and country. As a reminder for trainers, please use the ‘
Update my Entry
’ form to request a listing update or to be added to this directory if you are not already listed.
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The School of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the Louisiana State University AgCenter seeks one Extension Associate to work in the food safety program of Dr. Achyut Adhikari. The selected applicant will work on produce food safety extension activities related to the Food Safety Modernization Act requirements. Position will be involved in FSMA related training such as Produce Safety Alliance Growers Training and Food Safety Preventive Control Alliance Preventive Controls Training. Extensive in-state travel for food safety training and outreach is required. The Extension Associate will assist in food safety extension and outreach programs and develop educational tools and materials related to food safety. The Extension Associate will also develop effective working relationships with collaborators and networks in the field.
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