How to Develop A Farm Food Safety Plan
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS Module 7
Table of Contents Description of Module ......................... 1 Farm Food Safety Plan Parts ............ 2 Steps to Developing Your Plan ........ 3 Traceability .............................................. 4 Summary ................................................... 5 Codified Regulations ............................ 6 Self Assessment ...................................... 7
Description of Module Reasons for a Farm Food Safety Plan A written food safety plan helps growers get organized and focused on produce safety. Once growers assess their risks, writing a plan allows them to outline practices that will reduce the risks. A Farm Food Safety Plan will also help growers be prepared for buyer questions and third party audits. A good safety plan will: • Describe risks you have identified and actions to address those risks • Define your practices, policies, and SOPs • Be an efficient and effective use of your time and resources by prioritizing most important risk reduction steps Who is Your Food Safety Person? Each farm should identify a single person who will be in charge of developing their Farm Food Safety Plan. Although everyone will support food safety, one person should be identified so everyone knows who is in charge. The food safety person should: • Have food safety training and experience to know how to assess risks and develop a plan • Have the authority to make necessary changes and invest in resources to reduce risks • Make sure the plan is implemented • Be willing to be the farm food safety contact
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Farm Food Safety Plan Parts What is Provided in a Food Safety Plan? • Farm name and address • Farm description (commodities grown, farm size, etc) • Name and contact information for a the farm food safety manager • Risk assessment of practices and environmental conditions that impact food safety • Practices to reduce food safety risks • Records that document practices There are other items to include in your Farm Food Safety Plan. Keeping all this documentation in one place is the best way to be organized for an audit and for implementing the plan. Some records are required by the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, such as: • Worker training dates, information covered, who was trained • Agricultural water test results • Agricultural water system inspections • Monitoring treatment of biological soil amendments of animal origin
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Steps to Developing Your Plan • Step 1: Assessing Risks- The first step is to assess likely risks on each farm by reviewing practices, the farm environment, and adjacent land use ot identify possible risks to food safety. Growers should also use this step to focus on microbial, chemical, and physical risks that are most likely to occur, noting the ones that could happen often. • Step 2: Develop Practices to Reduce Risks- Once a grower has identified produce safety risks on their farm they will need to develop practices to reduce risks. If they have several risks, they should prioritize them based on limited human and financial resources. • Step 3: Document and Revise- Write a plan to guide implementation of practices. SOPs and policies will outline what needs to be done for those who are responsible for completing the task. Growers should revise their plan if it is not working or when practices change. Plans should be reviewed and updated at least annually, or whenever practices, personnel, or equipment changes.
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Traceability
Traceability is the ability to track a product through the food production and distribution system. It also means that growers can identify relevant inputs such as: source of soil amendments, fertilizers and any chemicals applied to the crop during production. The value of traceability includes: • Following quality- Identifying boxes that have quality issues. • Keeping track of amount sold- Knowing what sold well and how much money you should be making. • Minimizing foodborne illness impacts- Recalling a contaminated load/lot/bin. Knowing how much was sold and in the marketplace. Knowing who may have purchased/consumed it. Understanding “Lots” In order to develop a traceability system, growers need to break produce into “lots” which are distinct and limited portions of the crop that can be grouped and identified. Developing a lot code is dependent on what works best for the farm and what is the easiest system to manage. To begin developing a lot code, growers should identify: • • • •
Field locations Commodities and varieties grown A method for indicating harvest and/or pack date Harvest/packing crews Once growers have defined lots and lot numbers, they need to label the lot. They can be simple or complex but the most important part is that the lot number travels with the produce lot.
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Summary Ideally, a Farm Food Safety Plan should be short and concise. The grower should only include practices they are doing on their farm and avoid including things they wish they were doing. The plan should also include practices and schedules the grower is confident in doing and focus on risk reduction. Growers should identify someone to be in charge of food safety and ultimately choose the best person to write the plan. Typically, the best person to write the plan is someone who knows the farm and has food safety knowledge. Remember that traceability, establishing lots, lot codes and labeling are necessary for developing traceability system. Finally, follow the plan and update as necessary.
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CODIFIED REGULATIONS
The following is a list of regulations from the Produce Safety Rule that are pertinent to this module • • • • • •
§112.22(c) §112.23 §112.30(b) §112.50 (b)(2) §112.50 (b)(1) §112.6 (b)
USEFUL LINKS • Chapman, B., & Danyluk, M. D. (2013). Establishing Lot Size through Sanitation Clean Breaks in Produce Packing Facilities. University of Florida/IFAS Extension. • Farm to Table Food Safety • Template Food Safety Plan • Developing a Plan for a Third-Party Audit • On Farm Food Safety Publications
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Self Assessment 1. A written Food Safety Plan helps growers get organized and focused on produce safety. A. True B. False 2. Buyer questions and third part audits are easier for growers to handle because of a Farm Food Safety Plan. A. True B. False 3. Practices, policies, and SOPs should not be defined in your Farm Food Safety Plan. A. True B. False 4. Each farm should designate at least five people to be in charge of developing their Farm Food Safety Plan. A. True B. False 5. Agricultural water test results are required by the FSMA Produce Safety Rule. A. True B. False 6. There are four steps to developing your plan. A. True B. False 7. SOPs and policies will outline tasks for those responsible for completing them. A. True B. False 8. Labels should only be simple and easy to remember. A. True B. False 9. A “lot� is a distinct and limited portion of a crop. A. True B. False 10. Traceability is the ability to track a product through the food production and distribution system. A. True B. False
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Answer Key: 1. A 2. A 3. B 4. B 5. A 6. B 7. A 8. B 9. A 10. A