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CLIENT: A Small Good, LLC LOCATION: 103 Smith Drive, Hope, Maine 04847 Website Facebook Instagram Building Regulatory Compliance and Food Safety Systems for a Modern Artisan Salumeria At AgriForaging Compliance Services, we work with food businesses that combine craftsmanship, innovation, and a commitment to producing exceptional products. One such company is A Small Good, LLC, a family-owned salumeria located in Midcoast Maine. The Charcuterie Drying Room at A Small Good Kno

Food producers frequently hear terms such as Process Authority Review, Scheduled Process, HACCP Plan, Validation, Critical Control Point (CCP), and Food Safety Plan used interchangeably. As a result, many businesses assume these systems serve the same purpose or that one automatically satisfies the requirements of the other. They do not. While both are important food safety tools, they answer different questions and serve different regulatory functions. Understanding the dist

What the Updated FSIS Policy Book Signals About the Future of Meat and Poultry Labeling For years, many meat and poultry processors quietly relied on the USDA FSIS Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book as an operational reference point. It sat somewhere between guidance document, institutional memory, and field interpretation manual. Inspectors referenced it. Consultants referenced it. Label developers referenced it. Small processors often treated it as the closest thing to

On May 21, 2026, USDA FSIS published a final rule titled Visual Post Mortem Inspection in Swine Slaughter Establishments. The rule becomes effective July 20, 2026, and represents a significant shift in how routine post mortem inspection will be conducted in swine slaughter establishments. At the center of the rule is a change to traditional post mortem inspection procedures in swine slaughter establishments. FSIS is removing the mandatory requirement for routine mandibular l

Some of the most vulnerable food safety systems we encounter are also the most heavily documented. The logs are there. Temperatures were recorded. pH readings were taken. Water activity checks were completed. Sanitation records were signed. Corrective actions were documented. From the outside, the system appears organized and under control. Then eventually, during an inspection, reassessment, audit, deviation review, or product investigation, a different question surfaces: Wh

Interconnected systems in regenerative agriculture Across the food industry, more processors, manufacturers, and food businesses are beginning to look more closely at how agricultural practices upstream affect sourcing stability, product integrity, environmental resilience, and long term operational performance. One area receiving growing attention is regenerative agriculture and the role that partnerships with local farms can play in strengthening food systems. From a compli

In this series, we have moved step by step through Listeria control: Phase 1 focused on where Listeria hides. Phase 2 addressed post lethality exposure and RTE risk. Phase 3 examined trend-based regulatory oversight. Phase 4 outlined how to build a practical Environmental Monitoring Program. Phase 5 discussed reading the results and not panicking. Now we move upstream ... Listeria does not move randomly. It follows water. As temperatures shift and humidity rises, moisture bec

One of the most common things I see when I walk into a facility is not a lack of training, it’s training that never made it to the floor in a meaningful way. On paper, everything is usually in place. Procedures are written, logs are filled out, and people have technically been trained. But when you step into production and start asking simple questions, the cracks show up quickly. Two people doing the same job will explain it differently, or worse, you’ll see something being

AgriForaging was built from lived experience inside regulated food systems, to close a structural gap in how producers navigate state and federal inspection. Those producers include farmers, processors, butchers, value-added manufacturers, specialty food companies, restaurants, and businesses operating under state and federal inspection systems nationwide. Years ago, while growing a food business, I learned what that gap costs in real time. The regulations were real. The expe

The inspector is standing in your facility. They ask a question. Your team looks at you. What happens next determines the tone of the entire inspection. For many small and mid-sized food manufacturers, the word “inspection” triggers stress, urgency, and sometimes defensiveness. That reaction is common. It is also where operations lose control. Regulatory inspections are not just about compliance. They are about communication, documentation, and how your system holds under pre

How Digital Tools Are Changing Food Safety Documentation and Where They Actually Help Food safety compliance has always been documentation heavy. HACCP plans, monitoring logs, corrective action records, sanitation checks, supplier approvals, calibration records, traceability documentation. These are not optional. They are the system. For decades, most of this lived in binders, clipboards, and filing cabinets. Today, a growing number of food processors are moving those systems

CLIENT: Shale Spring Meats LOCATION: 10647 Kelsey Rd., Clyde, NY 14433 OWNED & OPERATED BY: Walter Horst, Clair Hoover, and Eugene Hoover WEBSITE: https://shalespringmeats.com/ Building a Federally Inspected Meat Processing Operation at Shale Spring Meats Moving from custom processing to USDA federal inspection is not a paperwork exercise. It requires a full operational reset across regulatory structure, plant flow, hazard analysis, documentation, and inspection readiness.

A positive swab does not mean your system failed. It means your system found something. In this series, we have moved step by step through Listeria control: Phase 1 focused on where Listeria hides. Phase 2 addressed post lethality exposure and RTE risk. Phase 3 examined trend-based regulatory oversight. Phase 4 outlined how to build a practical Environmental Monitoring Program. Now we address the moment that causes the most anxiety: What happens when you get a positive? The i

And What Trips Up Most Producers and Designers If you have ever had a label rejected, you know the feeling. The design looks right. The ingredients are correct. The packaging is clean. And still, something small triggers a rejection. Most labeling problems are not intentional. They happen because regulations are layered, processes evolve quietly, and design moves forward without regulatory alignment. Meat labeling is not decoration. It is regulatory communication and public r

What Meat and Poultry Processors Need to Understand Now Across the country, regulatory posture is tightening. Inspectors are no longer evaluating whether a food safety plan exists. They are evaluating whether it performs under real conditions. What makes this moment distinct is not the introduction of new regulations. The regulatory framework has not dramatically changed. What has shifted is the consistency and depth of application. Existing expectations are being enforced wi

Allergens are one of the most common and serious food safety risks in modern food production. They are also the leading cause of food recalls in the United States. Unlike microbial hazards, allergens cannot be eliminated through cooking, sanitation, or processing steps alone. Once an allergen is unintentionally introduced into a product, there is no corrective step that can make that product safe for an allergic consumer. The only true control is prevention. For food producer

Fermented foods are everywhere right now. Hot sauces, krauts, cured meats, vegetable ferments, kombucha, and hybrid products are moving quickly from farmers' markets into retail shelves. But fermented does not automatically mean shelf-stable. This is one of the most common points of confusion we see, especially among small and mid-sized producers scaling up production or expanding into wholesale. Many producers reading this have been fermenting their products the same way for

This article is part of the AskHACCP Listeria Series , focused on bringing real-world compliance guidance to retail and small processing environments. Sampling is not control. It is feedback. The AskHACCP Listeria Series So Far Each article in the AskHACCP Listeria Series is written for the people who build, clean, monitor, and teach every day. This includes processors, inspectors, and educators who work to protect food and tradition in real time. This next piece is for those

“Cured” is one of the most misused terms in food labeling. For producers, it often feels descriptive. For regulators, it is a process claim tied to specific chemistry, controls, and documentation. When the word appears on a label without support, it raises immediate concern during label review, inspection, or a complaint investigation. In regulatory terms, certain words on a label trigger deeper scrutiny because they imply a specific food safety function. This is especially t

FSIS Notice 01-26 Small Business Rights in FSIS Enforcement Letters Is Not New Law. It Is a Reminder. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service FSIS Notice 01-26 does not introduce new regulations. It does not change HACCP requirements. It does not add new paperwork. The full notice can be read here: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/fsis-notice/01-26 What it does is restate, very clearly, what inspectors are being asked to look for when they walk into an establishment. And that