ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 24, 2023) ~ The Maryland Department of Agriculture is urging produce farmers and processors to register with the department as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act's Produce Safety Rule. Secretary Kevin Atticks of the Maryland Department of Agriculture stated that the department wants to make sure that all produce farmers are aware of the standards required under the act.

Adopted into law in 2016, the Maryland Department of Agriculture's Food Quality Assurance Program has implemented a registration and farm inventory form for all Maryland farmers growing, harvesting, packing, or holding produce. The farm inventory provides the department with information necessary to determine if a farm needs to comply with the Produce Safety Rule or may qualify for exemption from it. Under this law, produce includes all fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, sprouts, peanuts, tree nuts, and herbs.

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The Food Safety Modernization Act was passed in 2011 and was the first comprehensive update to federal food safety laws since 1938. It sets new standards for food handling on farms as well as food processors, shippers, importers and retailers. Farmers who are following Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices are well prepared to comply with this act as many of its basic principles for reducing food safety risks are similar between these practices and its requirements.

More information about this act can be found on the department's website at www.mda.maryland.gov/fsma along with a google document to register a farm with them. Questions about it or how to register can be directed to Allison Luettel at (410) 353-7925 or Molly Gillingham at (410) 841-5769 or emailed to produce.safety@maryland.gov.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture is encouraging all Maryland produce farmers to register with them in order to ensure compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act's Produce Safety Rule which was adopted into law in 2016. This act sets new standards for food handling on farms as well as food processors, shippers, importers and retailers which must be followed by those registered with them in order to reduce food safety risks associated with their products.

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