Growers who schedule a USDA GAP or Harmonized audit this year should be prepared for an unannounced verification visit later in the growing season. 

These unannounced visits have been talked about during our educational sessions, but have mostly not happened due to a lack of auditors in the state.  The NJ Department of Agriculture Commodity Inspection and Grading Division now has enough staff to conduct these unannounced visits.

Unannounced visits will take place after the initial scheduled audit is completed.  These visits are used to verify that the farm is consistent with the written requirements of the food safety plan and the USDA audit requirements.  You cannot schedule these visits and you will not know specifically when the auditor will arrive to perform the audit.  The auditor may ask to see documentation during this visit, but will mostly focus on conformance to audit standards and your food safety plan through visual inspection.

Third party audits can be stressful for everyone at the farm.  Farm management and employees need to think about how they will react should something not go as planned during the audit.  Growers need to understand that the auditor will allow for some corrective actions to take place during the audit, if they are reasonable and if they show the food safety plan in action.

For example:  An employee exits the bathroom and does not wash their hands.  The auditor would expect the supervisor to tell the employee to wash their hands before returning to work.   If there is a situation that occurs during the audit that can be easily remedied every opportunity should be taken to do so.  If the auditor deems a situation as “Immediate Action Required” the audit will end without an opportunity to resolve the issue during that visit.  Additionally auditors will not give guidance on how to remedy a corrective action or an immediate action required, they will refer you to the Rutgers On Farm Food Safety team for information.

Want to better understand how the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) will impact your farm?  On Monday, March 23rd the New Jersey and Delaware Departments of Agriculture will host an informative meeting at the Rutgers EcoComplex.

Monday, March 23, 2015 9:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Rutgers EcoComplex, 1200 Florence-Columbus Road, Columbus
RSVP: Jeff Beach Jeffrey.beach@ag.state.nj.us or 609-439-2038

Decision trees can ease the process of creating your farm food safety plan. Decision tree topics include all of the important components of a food safety plan.  Access them at the National GAPs Program website.

These decision tress will:

1. Help you identify risks and practices that reduce risks;
2. Prioritize the implementation of practices to use limited resources wisely;
3. Familiarize you with the terms and methods necessary to understand and follow requirements and expectations for food safety from buyers, farm markets, schools, and federal regulations.

Cornell, University of Minnesota, and University of Tennessee, developed these decision trees.

The February 25, 2015 Food Safety Training at the Rutgers Snyder Farm has been cancelled due to a lack of registrations.
Growers interested in this training, are encouraged to register in advance for either of the following:

• March 4, 2015 @ Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County – wholesale and direct market training.
• March 20, 2015 @ Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County – direct market training.

To register for these workshops please contact Wes Kline or Meredith Melendez.