The Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio State University Extension will be hosting a listening session on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act Proposed Fresh Produce Safety Rule. The Proposed Fresh Produce Rule will be presented on Tuesday, Apr il 30, 2013 from 1:00p.m. – 4:00p.m. at the Shisler Conference Center, OARDC Wooster Campus, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio.

The FDA FSMA was signed into law on January 4, 2011. FSMA aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to incidents to preventing them. On January 4, 2013, FDA issued two major proposed FSMA rules regarding preventive controls in human food and produce safety. The purpose of the listening session will be to provide industry an overview of the proposed produce safety rule, solicit comments, respond to questions, and inform the public about the rulemaking process.

Invited speakers include: Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods & Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food & Drug Administration; Steven Slack, Associate Vice President and Director of OARDC; and ODA officials. For more information on the proposed rule, FDA fact sheets and to register for the event, please visit ODA’s Web page for the listening session . Please note that due to limited space, registration for the event is requested. There is no cost for registration.