No farm is exempt from producing safe food, but some are exempt from fully complying with the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. If your farm is qualified exempt, or the produce item is commercially processed with a kill step, that means you may have to comply with only a few of the requirements of the FSMA Rule for those produce items. To determine if your farm is a part of the exemption community, see if the following questions are applicable to you.
*Qualified end-user is either (a) the consumer of the food or (b) a restaurant or retail food establishment that is located in the same state or the same Indian reservation as the farm or not more than 275 miles away. (FSMA Final Rule)
Keep in mind that the FDA has the authority to revoke exemptions if there is a possibility of a potential risk of foodborne illness or if an active investigation is directly related to the farm. To get a withdrawn exemption reinstated, the FDA must determine that the outbreak is not directly related to the farm or determine that the problem has been adequately resolved.
Although you may be exempt, qualified exempt or process exempt from the FSMA Rule, you must still provide records to prove your exemption and disclose the name and the complete business address of the farm where the produce was grown either on the label of the produce or at the point of purchase to identify yourself at points of sale.