The Georgia Department of Agriculture released new regulations in April requiring all food processing plants in the state to initiate additional end-product testing of all food products or, alternatively, to develop a food safety plan that will be evaluated and reviewed by state food inspectors. The test results also must be submitted to the state for review and follow up.

The new regulations support state legislation, which was passed last spring. The department last month issued related guidance documents to help companies with compliance. The implementation date was May 1.

IDFA encourages members processing in Georgia to become familiar with the new regulations and to contact IDFA Vice President Allen Sayler at asayler@idfa.org or (202) 220-3544 with questions.