The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold an informational webinar on August 6, 2024 from 2:00–3:30 P.M. ET on basic Produce Safety Rule requirements for growing, harvesting, packing, and holding the most common types of mushrooms. Registration is required.

The webinar will focus on white and button mushrooms, but due to recent foodborne illness outbreaks linked to Enoki and Wood Ear mushrooms, specialty mushrooms will also be covered during the presentation.

Speakers will include:

• Kristin Esch, Produce Safety Expert, FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)
• John Pecchia, Ph.D., Mushroom Research Center and Spawn Laboratory in the Department of Plant Pathology, Penn State University
• Maria Gorgo-Simcox, Food Safety, IPM, and Water Quality Extension Educator and Affiliate Instructor, Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, Penn State University
• Wendy Read, Food Safety Inspector, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, the Produce Safety rule sets out science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption. The final rule went into effect January 26, 2016.