Some farmers market vendors in Pennsylvania will be getting food safety training this summer courtesy of a new Penn State program. The pilot program in select cities across the state is directed at small-scale food processors and farmers. It includes a three-hour session that covers key food safety concepts, such as safe processing and preparation…
When Does a Cottage Food Law Become a House Food Law?
Last week on Food Safety News, Dan Flynn wrote an article discussing Virginia’s plans to loosen its cottage food laws. Cottage food laws are basically laws that allow small-time producers to use appliances in their homes to bake, cook, can, pickle, dry or candy certain low-risk foods for sale. By contrast, state laws require…
Shoppers Can Pick Up Food Safety Clues at Farmers Markets
This is National Farmers Market Week, and with a bounty of freshly harvested food now available from local farms, people are flocking to the markets — for all sorts of reasons. “There’s nothing better than interacting with the people that nourish your body,” said one of the people responding to the American Farmland Trust’s request…
Study Finds Raw Chickens from Farmers Markets Carry More Pathogens Than Those from Groceries
A new study out of Pennsylvania State University suggests that raw chickens from farmers markets may be more likely to carry foodborne pathogens than the same product found at grocery stores. Researchers found that, out of a small sample of whole, uncooked chickens purchased throughout Pennsylvania, those from farmers markets were more likely to carry…
Farmers Market Vendors, Managers Get Up To Speed on Food Safety ABCs
No one wants customers to get sick. That was the message that University of Vermont Extension food safety specialist Londa Nwadike used to start off her recent webinar presentation about food safety tips for farmers market vendors and managers. With an eye toward the benefits of following good food safety protocol at markets, Nwadike was…
Fresh Produce at Farmers Markets Exempt from New Food Safety Regs
For farmers who sell fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, food safety will be business as usual, despite the federal Food and Drug Administration’s new proposed rules governing produce. “Business as usual,” because most market farmers are exempt from the new rules, just as they’re exempt from the Food Safety Modernization Act, which…
Harry’s Berries Products in CA Recalled for Botulism
The California Deaprtment of Public Health is warning consumers not to eat Harry’s Berries Salsa or Harry’s Berries Dilled Beans, produced by Gean Farms Inc. in Oxnard because they may be susceptible to contamination of Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that causes botulism. Gean Farms is voluntarily recalling their products after state health officials discovered the…
Should Farmers Market Vendors Carry Product Liability Insurance?
You’re there at your favorite farmers market. As always, you stop by one of the farm stands where you regularly shop to buy some fresh veggies and fruit. The farmer greets you with a welcoming smile and asks how you liked the food you bought from him last week. Giving him a strong affirmative nod,…
Pizza Stand at Seattle Farmers Market Shut Down for Health Violations
A pizza vendor operating at a Seattle farmers market was shut down this weekend after a health department inspection revealed multiple sanitation violations at the facility. The Veraci Pizza, Inc. stand at the Ballard Farmers Market in Northwest Seattle closed Sunday when health officials from the King County & Seattle Health Department found that employees…
Study: Farmers Market Employees Rarely Wash Hands
Employees serving ready-to-eat food at farmers markets may be putting consumers at risk by not washing their hands, according to a recent study from Purdue University. Researchers observed 18 workers at different Indiana farmers markets and found that none used proper hand washing techniques when cooking or serving prepared foods to customers. Out of the…
CA Recalls More Farmers Market Soups for Botulism Potential
The California Department of Health is warning consumers not to eat certain soups sold at southern California farmers markets because they may have been produced in a way that makes them susceptible to Clostridium botulinum. CDPH said Monday that canned soups manufactured by Malibu-based One Gun Ranch and Santa Barbara-based Organic Soup Kitchen had the…