The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued a draft guidance document to help farmers better understand what they need to do to meet requirements established by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

The Draft Guidance for Industry: Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption offers recommendations on how to meet the requirements for most subparts of the rule. Additionally, it outlines how to determine whether produce or farms may be eligible for exemptions from certain requirements, or from the rule in its entirety. 

For those interesting in discussing the draft guidance, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be holding a one-day public meeting on November 29, 2018 in Anaheim, California.  Meetings will also be held in Oregon, New York and Georgia. Meeting registration is expected to open on October 31, 2018. Click here to learn more about the public meetings.

If you are not able to attend and have comments regarding this guidance, please contact Sonia Salas at [email protected] before November 29, 2018.