North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[<dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

If you read the entire bill closely, especially the "definitions", you will see the following:

(5) CATEGORY 1 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 1 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a seafood processing establishment) that slaughters, for the purpose of producing food, animals that are not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or poultry that are not subject to inspection under the Poultry Products Inspection Act.

(6) CATEGORY 2 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 2 food establishment’ means a seafood processing establishment or other food establishment (other than a category 1 establishment) not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act, that processes raw seafood or other raw animal products, whether fresh or frozen, or other products that the Administrator determines by regulation to pose a significant risk of hazardous contamination.

(7) CATEGORY 3 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 3 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a category 1 or category 2 establishment) that processes cooked, pasteurized, or otherwise ready-to-eat seafood or other animal products, fresh produce in ready-to-eat raw form, or other products that pose a risk of hazardous contamination.

(8) CATEGORY 4 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 4 food establishment’ means a food establishment that processes all other categories of food products not described in paragraphs (5) through (7).

(9) CATEGORY 5 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 5 food establishment’ means a food establishment that stores, holds, or transports food products prior to delivery for retail sale.

 

Every operation serving or selling food needs to have a food safety system in place that is designed specifically to guarantee the food being served is safe to eat. This specific food safety system is called HACCP for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. HACCP is a system comprised of 7 principles that are to be applied to a written food safety program focusing on the food in your operation. 

All of the these categories already have to register and pass a county health department inspection and have a HACCP program in place under most state's current county health department laws.  Any establishment that serves food to the public has to do this.  This bill wants to establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.  It will be the Food Safety Administration that will inforce HACCP requirements.

Since we make our own cider, have a restaurant and serve food to the public, we have annual inspections and have to have a HACCP plan in force.  The Food Safety Administration will now make annual inspections, review our HACCP program and make sure we are in compliance.  As to this date, no one has ever gotten ill from products made at Royal Oak Farm.  We want to keep it that way, and so does the federal government through the FSA.  None of this is new.  The government is simply going to remove any of these responsibilities from the USDA and give them to the FSA.  Not more government......simply a division of government. 

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
Office (815) 648-4467
Mobile (815) 228-2174
Fax (609) 228-2174
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
http://www.revivalhymn.com

----- Original Message -----

From: Deb S

To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 9:49 AM

Subject: [NAFEX] H.R. 875 more trouble from the government for small producers

Take a look at this bill

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875

It looks like it is more privacy invasion as the government under the guise of food safety wants to register every "food establishment" (which looks like it includes anyone who produces any food on their property). 

If you find it very disturbing as I did, here's the link to write your Congressional rep and tell them so

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml