VVBGA Produce Safety Accreditation Requirements
To be eligible for VVBGA Accreditation the following items/ practices will be
outlined in your Practical Produce Safety Plan and implemented/ practiced on
your farm.
Item/ Practice*
#
1
Soil Fertilization (manure and
compost)
2 Potable wash water test
Short Description*
Outline how you fertilize your soil/crops. If applicable, records of
manure waiting periods and compost production are additionally
required
Summarize the source and quality of your potable water.
Describe when and how you train your employees about produce
safety.
Multiple Rinse or sanitizer for If applicable, outline your practice for washing raw-eaten leafy
raw-eaten leafy greens
produce such as salad greens **
Outline your routines for cleaning and storing your harvest, packing,
Pack and ship containers clean
and shipping containers**
Cold storage w/ accurate
Briefly Describe your cold storage equipment and cleaning routine.**
thermometer
Dedicated produce bins for
Your bins used for harvesting and storing RACS are dedicated for this
raw-eaten Agricultural
purpose and not used for things that might contaminate them (e.g.
Commodities (RACS)
garbage, compost, etc)
Label a birds-eye farm map. Outline any land-use history or other
PS Farm Map/ plan
potential extrinsic risks (e.g. flooding)
Risk reduction plan for
Describe your source(s) and Outline how you reduce risk of RACs
irrigation
contamination with irrigation water
harvest bins cleaned when
Outline your routine for cleaning and storing your harvest bins
dirty
Packing house cleaning
Outline your routine for cleaning your pack house.
plan/routine
Rodent prevention control
Briefly describe and qualify your rodent issues and Outline your
plan
plan/ routine for controlling them.
Briefly describe toilet facility location/ access on your farm. Easy
Easy Access to toilet facility
access= within ¼ mile walk or 5 minute drive at all times.
In practice, employees should have a positive and regular practice of
Effective-hand washing
effective hand-washing . This should be stated in your plan, but more
practice and policy
importantly be happening daily on your farm!
Outline your sick policy, including preventing contagious employees
Sick Policy
from handling RACs
Describe location (s) of stocked “kit (s)” and policy for promptly
Easy access to first-aid Kit(s)
treating and covering bleeding injuries.
Describe the type and contents of labels used for wholesale shipping.
Wholesale shipping unit label
3 Employee Training
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Describe how you manage your cooler, including inventory turning
and any regular cleaning routines.
Describe methods used to cool or keep cool, perishable product from
Plan to Maintain Transport
19
harvest to sale, including harvest timing, hydro cooling, 35-45 degree
Cold Chain
refrigeration, etc.
*More complete descriptions and links to resources can be found in the PSA Learn and Write Modules
**More detailed photo(s) and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is additionally required for this
practice.
18
Plan/ routine for cooler
cleaning
VVBGA Produce Safety Accreditation Requirements
The following Items/ Practices are encouraged but not required for
Accreditation
Item/ Practice
#
1
2
Irrigation Testing
Non-porous harvest
bins
Wash water test
and/or Sanitizer
3
efficacy for RACs in
dunk tanks.
4 Well-drained floor
5
Non-porous wash
line
6 Hose management
7
Wholesale Invoice
traceability
8
Cold storage temp
documentation
9
Transport cleaning
routine
Short Description*
Get to know the quality of your irrigation water! Describe any
testing of irrigation water source(s) and present results.
Describe the bins you use. Non-porous bin are recommended
because they are washable, stackable and relatively
inexpensive.
If Applicable, describe how you monitor the efficacy of your
sanitizer in dunk tanks , and present any E.coli test results of
used dunk tank water
Describe your pack house floor. Ideally it is a material (porous
or non-porous) that drains well and does not puddle.
Describe the surface and condition of you wash line. Ideally all
contact surfaces are in good repair, non-porous and washable.
Describe how you manage water-flow/ hoses in your pack
house. Ideally, hoses stay off the ground using a “hose
pulley/trolley” or equivalent system.
Invoices are most likely required by your buyers or your farms.
Ideally, this invoice will connect any product sale to its date and
field of harvest (one step forward one step back”
Recording cooler temperature and humidity helps many
farmers better manage storage and compressor equipment.
Ideally, you will post these records if you take them.
Ideally vehicles and transport boxes are kept as tidy as practical
and regularly cleaned. Describe this routine if applicable.
*More complete descriptions and links to resources can be found in the PSA Learn and Write Modules
**More detailed photo(s) and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is additionally required for this
practice.