The South Carolina Department of Agriculture and Clemson University are gearing up for implementation of the new federal produce safety rule with new staff brought on board and an extensive education effort planned.

The Produce Safety Rule was established in November 2015 and is a part of the Food Safety Modernization Act that was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2011. The law aims to protect public health by strengthening the food safety system by “shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it,” according to the Food and Drug Administration, which is administering the act.

At this year’s SC AgriBiz & Farm Expo in Florence Jan. 12, officials from SCDA and Clemson outlined implementation plans for the new Produce Safety Rule. SCDA was awarded a $3.5 million grant from FDA to implement the rule in South Carolina.

The Produce Safety Rule affects more than 5,000 farmers in South Carolina who grow peaches, melons, berries, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, kale, broccoli and spinach. SCDA’s Consumer Protection Division will be responsible for stakeholder communications, educational outreach, audit assistance, enforcement support and the development of a “SC Farm Inventory.” The division will also ensure that farmers are compliant ready.

Clemson University is a partner in the process and will help in developing a produce safety training plan. Thirty-eight extension agents will assist the SCDA team in disseminating information to growers statewide. SCDA will coordinate with other stakeholders such as South Carolina Farm Bureau and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association to develop outreach, policy, and strategies to assist farmers and others affected by this new legislation.

At the Expo, Derek Underwood, SCDA’s assistant commissioner, Regulatory Division, said it is vital that the state not the federal government implement the rule in South Carolina. The FSMA allows states to enact legislation to implement the law in each state.

“We want to regulate the Produce Safety Rule,” Underwood said at the Expo. “We do not want somebody from Washington to implement it and we do not want somebody from the FDA Atlanta district office to come on your farm and tell you you’re in violation. We want to ensure that SCDA not the FDA is the face for FMSA for the farm and for industry.”

SCDA’s Consumer Protection Division is creating a whole new department for produce safety this year. “The Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule is so big we’re not able to absorb it into any of our departments,” he said.

Underwood said a key step is passage of enabling legislation that is set to go before the current session of the South Carolina General Assembly to give SCDA complete authority over the produce safety rule in the state. Passage of the legislation is necessary for SCDA to be FDA’s regulatory authority in South Carolina.

Julie Northcutt, a professor and Extension program team leader for food safety and nutrition and Clemson, and Scott Whiteside, a Clemson professor and associate director of the Center for Flexible Packaging, will be directing Clemson’s ambitious statewide educational efforts on the Produce Safety Rule.

“We have sent a number of people to become certified instructors in the Produce Safety Rule,” Northcutt said. “When FDA implements a rule such as FSMA or the Produce Safety Rule, they require that individuals be trained by a recognized curriculum.”

Whiteside said the Produce Safety Rule is a new government regulation on the food industry but it is needed to help keep the U.S food supply safe. “We have to have regulations to make sure of that. We do have the safest food supply in the world bar none,” he stressed.

The rule is all about minimizing risk. “FDA now has the authority to reach all the way down to the farm production level, regulatory authority that they have never had before,” he said.

The rule will regulate agricultural water, for both irrigation and the washing and sanitizing of raw produce. The rule also regulates soil amendments or compost and domesticated and wild animals that come in contact with produce in the field. “If you’re out picking strawberries and you seed wild animal feces in the field, you have to have a plan that shows how you’re going to deal with that,” Whiteside explained.

Regulations on the personal hygiene of workers such as hand washing and ensuring that buildings and sheds are clean are also part of the new regulations. “If you keep the food clean at the farm level, you are protected as farmers. Documentation is required to make sure that you have done due diligence to comply with these produce safety rules,” he explained.

FDA will require produce farmers to keep records on how clean the water is that they are using to irrigate their crops. Whiteside again emphasized that these regulations only apply to produce that is consumed by humans raw.