Category: Uncategorized

CDFA Produce Safety Program Presents on FSMA Agricultural Water Final Rule Across California

Posted in Education, Implementation, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
CDFA logo above four images of staff at various outreach events

California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Produce Safety Program (PSP) staff traveled across California this spring to present to stakeholders on the new Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Final Rule requirements and inspection-related topics under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR).

PSP’s Produce Safety Rule and Outreach Specialist Angela Terrazas and Central Coast Field Inspector Maggie Castro attended the 2025 Western Food Safety Conference in Salinas May 6 – 7 to share with conference attendees educational resources to support compliance with the FSMA PSR. Terrazas presented on the FSMA Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Final Rule requirements and what growers can anticipate during inspections in California to gain actionable insights into meeting compliance standards and ensuring safe agricultural water use for fresh produce.

Between April and May, CDFA PSP partnered with the Western Tree Nut Association, CDFA Technical Assistance Program and University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) to provide in-person workshops across California, spanning from Glenn County to Kern County, focusing on the FSMA Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Final Rule for growers and handlers of California tree nuts. PSP’s Terrazas, Training and Standardization Specialist Briana Russell and Central Valley (North) Field Inspector Carolyn Chandler provided attendees guidance on how the new requirements apply to their operations and how to prepare for a FSMA PSR inspection.

On June 10, Terrazas attended a Ventura County Food Safety Association meeting to present on the FSMA Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Fine Rule requirements. Terrazas answered water safety questions and provided attendees with educational resources to support FSMA PSR compliance.

Visit the CDFA PSP blog post and FDA webpage for more information about the FSMA Final Rule on Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water. If interested in a PSP presentation, please contact producesafety@cdfa.ca.gov.

To stay up to date with news related to CDFA’s Produce Safety Program, sign up for the Produce Safety Program Mailing List by checking the Inspection Services Division (ISD) / Inspection and Compliance Branch / Produce Safety Program box. To learn more about CDFA’s Produce Safety Program, please visit https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/producesafety/.

Pictured: (Left, L-R) PSP’s Angela Terrazas and Maggie Castro host a conference booth at the 2025 Western Food Safety Conference in Salinas, CA. (Middle) Terrazas presents to 2025 Western Food Safety Conference attendees on agricultural water safety requirements. (Top Right, L-R) PSP’s Briana Russell and Terrazas present to workshop attendees in Madera, CA. (Bottom Right) Terrazas presents to Ventura County Food Safety Association attendees in Santa Paula, CA.

CDFA TO HOLD ‘GOOD AG NEIGHBOR’ WORKSHOPS FOR PRODUCE AND LIVESTOCK OPERATIONS

Posted in Announcements, Uncategorized

In order to facilitate dialogue between different sectors of California agriculture about cooperation to prevent future foodborne illness outbreaks, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is partnering with the University of California and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring the livestock and produce communities together for a series of workshops.

The workshops, titled Good Ag Neighbors are designed for fruit and vegetable growers, livestock owners, and others interested in learning about how produce safety and livestock management practices can work jointly to promote food safety.

They will be held in two California locations, with the first scheduled for June 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Desert Research and Extension Center in Holtville. The second workshop is scheduled for June 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Robert J Cabral Ag Center in Stockton.

In announcing these workshop, CDFA Secretary Karen Ross noted that agriculture is complex, particularly in California where diverse agricultural operations often exist side-by-side with each of them required to comply with a myriad of regulations designed to protect the public, the environment and the food supply.

She emphasized that open communication channels between diverse partners is important. This has become more apparent with the CDFA’s newly created Produce Safety Program, which is working on behalf of the U.S. FDA to enforce produce safety regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act.

The workshops are being conducted by the UC Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security and will include presentations by researchers and industry representatives. The day-long agenda will focus in the morning on reviewing regulations, laws and practices already in place to protect food and environmental safety, while the afternoon will be spent in various breakout groups examining how these practices can be leveraged.

The sessions will address lessons learned from recent investigations of produce-related foodborne illness outbreaks, examine key research findings, and consider future research needs.

Participants should come prepared to share their experiences as well as their produce safety questions.

The workshops are offered free of charge. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.wifss.ucdavis.edu/good-ag-neighbors/

Produce Safety Program Prepares to Inspect “Large Farms” in Spring 2019

Posted in Announcements, Implementation, Regulation, Uncategorized

If you farm produce in California, you may have received a letter this week from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The letter, mailed to thousands of produce farms across the state, contains important information about on-farm food safety inspections that will begin this Spring.

The inspections are part of a new law enacted in 2011 when then President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA. Since then, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been working out the details of how the new law will be implemented and working with state departments of agriculture who will assist in performing on-farm inspections. In the next few months, these inspections will finally become reality for “large farms” across the U.S.

To start the process, CDFA utilized the Cal Ag Permits system, maintained by the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association and used by each county to issue pesticide application permits. Through this system, CDFA identified 20,000 produce farms in California they believe are covered under the Produce Safety Rule that is part of FSMA.

California has more produce farms by far than any other state in the nation and the job of inspecting them is huge.

Of the 20,000 produce farms in California, 12,000 have average annual sales of $500,000 or more and are considered “large farms” under the Produce Safety Rule. Only these large farms will be subject to inspections at first and these are the farms who will be receiving CDFA’s letter.

Inspections will be conducted through the Produce Safety Program, a new unit within CDFA’s Inspection Services Division. However, this unit will only be able to inspect a very small percentage of farms in any given year. Along with this week’s letters, a survey form was provided with questions that will help determine how farms will be prioritized for inspections.

It’s very important that farmers complete the questionnaire as completely and accurately as possible because the information will be used to prioritize inspections. Certain information, either known or unknown, about a farm will be weighed when determining which farms will be inspected first. Farm profiles with greater numerical totals may be given a higher priority for inspections and unknown data points are generally allocated the greatest numerical value.

The survey questionnaire can be found on the Produce Safety Program website here. We hope you will take advantage of the information provided on our website, e-newsletter or Facebook page which is designed to help farmers comply with the Produce Safety Rule.  We encourage you to check back for future updates.