Hello everyone! As we say goodbye to 2020 (yay!) we want to provide a few final updates for the year. Included this month: Join us for a webinar to learn about on-farm composting and the Produce Safety Rule; a reminder to register your farm with the Colorado Department of Agriculture if you need to do so; and opportunities to comment on the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Rarely Consumed Raw list and the Proposed Traceability Rule.
Colorado Produce Safety Registration Open
Registration for the Colorado Produce Safety Program is open for produce farms that are subject to the federal Produce Safety Rule. Registration can be completed through an online registration system.
Registration information:
When you use the link for the first time, you will need to set up an account. You can create an account by navigating to the lower portion of the login page and clicking on "Register as a new user". After you have completed the registration and submitted your responses, you will receive a confirmation email.
For more information, and for questions on the state program or registration requirements, please contact the program at produce.safety@state.co.us or Duane Sinning, Program Manager, at (303) 869-9284 or Duane.Sinning@state.co.us.
FDA Extends the Comment Period for the Food Traceability Proposed Rule and the Information Collection Provisions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is extending the comment period for the proposed rule entitled “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods” and reopening the comment period for the information collection provisions until February 22, 2021.
The proposed rule published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2020 and included a 120-day comment period for the proposal and a 60-day comment period for the information collection provisions, which closed on November 23, 2020. The FDA previously signaled its intention to extend the comment period for the information collection provisions after hearing concerns from several stakeholders that more time was needed to adequately review and analyze those provisions with consideration to the entire proposed rule. The announcement today formally reopens and extends the comment period for the information collection provisions and extends the comment period for the entire rule. Both comment periods are now aligned and will close on February 22, 2021.
On September 21, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a proposed rule, “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods”, to establish additional traceability record-keeping requirements for certain foods. The FDA is proposing to establish additional traceability recordkeeping requirements (beyond what is already required in existing regulations) for persons who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods the Agency has designated for inclusion on the Food Traceability List.
Comment period for the Rarely Consumed Raw list is open until January 8, 2021
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Request for Information (RFI) in August 2020 to open a docket for data and information related to produce known to have no or low reported consumption. The Agency plans to use the data and information to consider whether any of these produce commodities should be added to the “rarely consumed raw” (RCR) list and thereby exempt from the Produce Safety Rule. The items currently on the exhaustive RCR list are not subject to the requirements in the Produce Safety rule.
The FDA is now extending the comment period for stakeholders to submit the requested information for an additional 60 days, through January 8, 2021. This extension is being made in response to requests from stakeholders who indicated that more time was needed in order to submit the relevant data.
The FDA invites those with data, information, and/or comments regarding U.S. consumption patterns of those commodities with no or low reported consumption to submit such information to the agency through the RFI docket.
You can schedule a convenient time to discuss any questions you have related to your food safety practices, processes or other general questions. Click here to schedule a time.
