The 7 FSMA Rules All Farmers Must Know

The FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the most sweeping reform of food safety laws in more than 70 years. FSMA was signed into law by President Obama in January 2011, and since then the FDA has been working to implement new rules and regulations designed to prevent foodborne illnesses.

There are currently seven FSMA rules that farms and packinghouses need to be aware of, including the Produce Safety Rule and the Preventive Controls for Human Food rule. In this blog post, we’ll give you a brief overview of each FSMA rule and what it means for farmers.

The Seven FSMA Rules
1. The Produce Safety Rule: The Produce Safety Rule establishes science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption. If you are subject to this Rule, you must comply with applicable regulations.
2. The Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) Rule for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals: The FSVP Rule requires importers to verify that their foreign suppliers are producing food in a manner that meets U.S. food safety standards.
3. The Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule: The Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule establishes requirements for farms and packinghouses that produce food for human consumption. These requirements include developing and implementing a written food safety plan, appointing a qualified individual to oversee food safety operations, and conducting hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls.
4. The Animal Food Rule: The Animal Food Rule establishes requirements for operations that produce food for animals, including developing and implementing a written food safety plan, appointing a qualified individual to oversee food safety operations, and conducting hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls.
5. The Sanitary Transportation of Human & Animal Food Rule: This Rule establishes requirements for the sanitary transportation of human and animal food, including ensuring that vehicles used to transport food are clean and maintained in a sanitary condition, keeping foods at proper temperatures during transportation, preventing cross-contamination between different types of foods, and protecting transported food from adulteration (e.g., exposure to contaminants).
6. Intentional Adulteration (IA) Rule: This Rule established requirements designed to protect the U.S. food supply against intentional adulteration (e.g., tampering or terrorism). These requirements include developing and implementing a written guard against intentional adulteration as well as physical security measures designed to protect against unauthorized entry into areas where foods are produced or stored.”
7. The Agricultural Water Rule: The Agricultural Water Rule establishes standards for water quality on farms that use water as an ingredient in their products or use water in direct contact with crops during production (e.g., irrigation water). This Rule also applies to farms that use groundwater as an ingredient or that use groundwater in direct contact with crops during production.”

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