Blog: The FDA’s new pre-harvest agricultural water rule – impacts on PFAS-contaminated groundwater?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration – acting under its Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), as amended, 21 U.S.C. § 2201 et seq., to address the safety of all FMSA-covered produce other than sprouts (Covered Produce) – on May 6, 2024, issued a final rule that amended its 2015 rule on the safety of produce. With certain exceptions for growers of Covered Produce, the FDA’s new rule requires pre-harvest agricultural water assessments for hazard identification and risk management decision-making purposes. Requirements for harvest and post-harvest use of agricultural water have not changed. The FDA regulated sprouts specifically in an earlier pre-harvest agricultural water regulation that remains applicable to that produce.