In New York State, 4,295 dairy farms produce 14.9 billion pounds of milk. As approximately 95% of milk received at New York dairy plants come from NYS sources (2016), dairy products employ over 63,000 employees and provide a $42 billion impact on the NY State Economy. The FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act requires food-processing facilities to write and implement comprehensive food safety plans to prevent recalls and protect public health. The Harvest New York Dairy Processing Specialists can review Food Safety Plans of New York dairy processing facilities to ensure they are complete and comprehensive.

According to the Center for Food Integrity, Food Safety is the third most common food topic searched online. Since food safety is a major area of scrutiny for consumers, it is more crucial for food companies to create Food Safety Plans for their products to ensure their product is not featured on the evening news due to a recall. Large and small food companies (including dairy processors) have gone out of business as a direct result of having a major food safety recall. While this is not only damaging for that company and the local community, it also damages consumer's confidence in the food industry, particularly within similar commodities.

Food safety plans are not "one size fits all". These facilities range in size from small farmstead creameries to large-scale operations, and cover many different types of dairy products. Plants of all sizes have required assistance in meeting the requirements of this new regulation, as failure to comply could be catastrophic.

For example, if the FDA were to inspect a facility that did not have an accurate or comprehensive Food Safety Plan, the FDA could suspend the operating license of the facility or mandate a product recall for the foods produced. Ultimately, failure to comply with these standards could hinder the economic impact of the dairy industry in New York State. Issues with these food safety plans could lead to job losses and a jeopardized position for billions of pounds of milk produced by New York State farmers. Thus, Harvest New York Specialists work with plants' individual food safety plans is critical.

During the review process, the Harvest New York Dairy Processing Specialist and the facility's employees dissect all components of the existing food safety plans. Typically, this process is completed in-person at the facility, where specialists can identify any operational concerns in addition to reviewing documentation. The documentation is reviewed to ensure no requirements were overlooked or are incomplete, and that the employees fully understand the documentation requirements of their facility-specific plans. This review process typically takes multiple days, with many adjustments, before the food safety plans are deemed sound.

Well-written food safety plans include:

• Descriptions of each product produced
• Flow diagrams of all ingredients, packaging, and finished products that come and go out of the facility
• Hazard analysis describing the potential hazards at every step identified in the flow diagrams
• Programs to control any identified hazard
• Description of monitoring procedures for all controls
• Recall plan

Harvest New York will continue to work with individual dairy plants to ensure they have well-written Food Safety Plans. For more information or assistance in reviewing New York State dairy processing food safety plans, contact Barbara Williams in Northern NY or Anika Zuber in Western NY.