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South Dakota Announces Farmers Market Food Safety Rules

In South Dakota new legislation went into effect July 1 allowing the creation of new rules and regulations on organic food sold in farmers markets. The regulations were created by the state Department of Health in tandem with the South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service.


The rules state, “Many growers and specialty food entrepreneurs in South Dakota are adding value to the fresh, whole fruits and vegetables grown in South Dakota. Whole raw fruits and vegetables can currently be sold without any regulatory requirements. Once a raw fruit and/or a vegetable has been processed, specific requirements need to be followed to ensure the safety of the product.”


pickles2-featired.jpgThese rules will apply to people selling goods not produced in a commercial kitchen. They require individuals who sell home-canned goods to have their preparation methods and products tested to ensure an adequate thermal process.  Producers of most food items will be required to label their products.


The labeling rules state: “Each food container sold must have a label that contains the following: name of the product, producer, and contact information, date the product was made or processed, ingredients (list ingredients in the product from the largest to the smallest in net weight or volume; actual weight or volume of ingredients do not need to be listed; a disclaimer that states the following: ‘This product was not produced in a commercial kitchen. It has been home processed in a kitchen that may also process common food allergens such as tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy, wheat, milk, fish and crustacean shellfish.'”


As officials have been holding meetings across the state explaining these new certification and labeling regulations, they have met both opponents and proponents of the measures. Some producers don’t think they can afford to have all their methods and products tested and labeled.


Other producers, such as Ruth Neuberger, support the new rules. She has been selling a variety of products at farmers markets since 1978. She thinks that her fellow producers may be using unsafe practices. “They need training, which they probably never had from a professional,” she told Foodmanufacturing.com.


South Dakota lawmakers are divided over the issue. State Representative Bernie Hunhoff (D) thinks that everyone involved has good intentions but that producers may face an unfair uphill battle, “There are a lot more hoops to jump through than I imagined.” He worries that so many regulations may discourage citizens from producing and selling food at farmers markets.
Hunhoff said the regulations are an example of big government creeping in on small farmers, but other legislators take another perspective.


Joan Hergerfeld-Baker, an Extension food safety specialist, helped construct the new rules. She sees them as vital steps towards protecting consumers from sub-par production methods. “There are a lot of people who really haven’t learned properly. There are shortcuts people are starting to use that are not safe,” she told Foodmanufacturing.com. “You want people to use safe, tested methods,” she said.


The new regulations will apply to all foods except baked foods that don’t contain a custard-type filling and home-canned goods that don’t need refrigeration and are acidified products.


The full text of the new regulations can be found here.

© Food Safety News
  • http://www.organic-food-for-everyone.com Kris Bovay

    While the regulations may make it very difficult for small local producers, they will improve food safety. Government support in the form of free training and advice should be provided during the transition phase to help the small producers learn compliance techniques.

  • http://www.organicitsworthit.org OrganicTrade

    The headline of this article is misleading. The rules referenced here are not specific to organic foods, nor were they created by the National Organic Program, which regulates organic products. It is also worth noting here that organic is not a food safety rule. Like all food products, organic food must follow all food safety rules.

  • http://www.wheelchairindia.com wheelchairs

    I was surprised at how often we observed people taking “a sample” without washing item, such as grape, berry, section orange, etc from vendors. Some put out probably all day others I guess they just sampled. This market is 9-9, and people came from various states as it is one day a week for 50 + years

  • ASD

    I think it interesting what the extension rep assumes. First off, food safety issues lately haven’t been coming from Farmer’s Markets, but from the Corporate Mass production industry that lives by the standards she is embracing and wants small farmer’s market vendors to convert to. This has more to do with controlling people than addressing safety of food. If that was truly the concern then why aren’t they worried more about the chemicals being put into our food by corporate America and genetically altered foods that have no valid reason for being in the food? Hormones in milk are harming little kids by nothing is being done to stop those corporate sponsored contaminations of our food chain. Instead the lobby interests’ legislators focus on the farmer’s market. I’m not a believer in their reasons. Sorry I know full well the “extension” service is in bed with Mansanto in South Dakota!