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 on 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 to complete a food safety training at least equivalent to that received under a standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by FDA conducted by qualified trainers. Dr. Paul Priyesh, the PSA lead trainer for the state and his produce safety team conducted 4 PSA grower trainings (2 remote and 2 in-person) from July 2023- June 2024 across the state of Kentucky. 60 participants, which included 10 growers from the Amish and Mennonite population successfully completed the program. Pre-test data showed that 13.5 percent of the participants scored 75% or above, but the post-test data showed a significant increase in knowledge, with 75 percent of the participants scoring 75% or above.
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