Food Safety Modernization Act: Visitors
The produce safety rule defines a visitor as any person, other than farm's personnel, who enters the farm with permission.
Examples of visitors include customers, tour groups, sales people or contractors. Although it is not a rule requirement, it is always a good idea to keep a record of everyone visiting your farm.
The rule requires that every time there is a visitor, you have to make them aware of the farm's food safety policies and procedures for protecting covered produce and food contact surfaces from contamination by people.
Policies can be reviewed with visitors through the use of posters, handouts, short policy summaries, or verbally when they enter the farm. Key items in the policies that may be reviewed with visitors are:
- What parts of the farm and packing areas they can enter
- Information so they understand that they should not visit the farm if they are sick or have symptoms of illness
- Why, when, where, and how to wash their handsÂ
- Keeping their pets at home, this is not only a food safety risk, but a liability issue as well.
The farm must take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that visitors comply with such food safety policies and procedures and make toilet and handwashing facilities accessible to visitors.
For more information, please visit the Penn State Extension FSMA section.
This program was developed by Food Safety CTS, LLC, for Penn State Extension. Supported by a USDA NIFA Food Safety Outreach Program grant titled "Bilingual Produce Safety Educational Programming for Hispanic/Latino Fresh Produce Growers and Farmworkers in Pennsylvania," USDA NIFA Award number 2017-70020-27236
