Success StoryProduce Safety Alliance Grower Training to meet the FDA's FSMA PSR requirement



Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training to meet the FDA's FSMA PSR requirement

Author: Paul Vijayakumar

Planning Unit: Animal and Food Sciences

Major Program: Local Food Systems

Outcome: Long-Term Outcome

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a federal law transforming the nation’s food safety system. The “Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption”, aka “Produce Safety Rule (PSR),” establishes for the first time, science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption. The rule is part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to implement the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The final rule went into effect January 26, 2016.  Growers need to attend PSA Grower training in order to fulfill FSMA Produce Safety Rule regulatory requirement. The FSMA Produce Safety Rule requires at least one supervisor or responsible party from the farm complete a food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by FDA conducted by qualified trainers. Dr. Paul Priyesh Vijayakumar the PSA lead trainer for the state conducted five different PSA grower trainings in 2017-18 across the state of Kentucky. Eighty-nine participants, which included growers from the Amish and Mennonite population, and sixteen senior food science students from University of Kentucky participated and successfully completed the program. Pre-test data showed that only a little over 30 percent of the participants scored 70% or above, but the post-test data showed significant increase in knowledge, with 80 percent of the participants scoring 70% or above.