"Food Without Fear"
At The Sacred Tomato, we are passionate about working directly with farmers helping you achieve the highest levels of safety standards and good agricultural practices that help to ensure a safe and productive work environment that leads towards a safe and healthy product for your customers.
Creating a Culture of Safety
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was passed by Congress and signed by the President in January 2011. The new law requires companies to implement a food safety program that significantly minimizes potential hazards and risk of foodborne illness. The Produce Safety Rule (PSR) , one of the main components of the FSMA, establishes standards to ensure safe growing, harvesting, packing, holding, and (to a limited degree) manufacturing and processing of covered produce on farms.
Subpart C and D of the produce safety rule (Personal Qualifications, Training, and Health and Hygiene) require companies to implement worker health and hygiene practices to prevent or reduce contamination of non-exempt produce and food-contact surfaces. Furthermore, all visitors and personnel must be trained on the operation's food safety and hygiene policies while recording the date, name of person trained, and the specific topics covered. Whether covered or exempt, taking immediate steps to implement personal health and hygiene GAPs will benefit a company's financial viability and overall produce safety. Moreover, even farms exempt from the PSR are subject to the provisions of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) preventing adulterated food from entering commerce.
