FDA/USDA-Funded Initiative Will Disseminate Food Safety Information To Farmers, Packagers

As produce growers and packagers await new 2011 regulations on food safety from the FDA, the agency has partnered with USDA and Cornell University to provide food safety educational materials and other resources. A three-year initiative funded with $1.15 million from the FDA and USDA, the Produce Safety Alliance will develop a standardized education program on good agricultural practices (GAP) and on-farm food safety measures in several formats and languages. The Alliance will also develop a database of modern scientific and technical information on farm and packinghouse safety, create an informational Web site, establish a network of educational collaborators, and assess current educational tools to identify gaps in knowledge. The PSA will  be located at Cornell, which has developed and disseminated food safety knowledge to farmers for many years.