Guide

A Guide for Food Hubs on Food Safety Compliance

November 2023

Authors

Erika Dunyak, Andrew Marchev,

This guide outlines the legal landscape for food hub decisionmakers looking to build food safety compliance and risk management strategies.

For references and endnotes, please refer to the PDF version of this document.

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Introduction

To reduce food safety risk and liability, food hubs should adhere to relevant laws and regulations and be aware of liabilities and risk. This can be challenging because food hubs have a wide array of functions, they interact with many parts of the food system, and the applicable rules and regulations are not necessarily written with food hubs in mind. This short guide for decision-makers at food hubs or those advising a food hub will address common considerations for compliance and risk management related to food safety.

We suggest that the best way to use this guide is with the advice of a lawyer and/or food safety consultant.

Acknowledgements

This resource was developed by the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law and Graduate School. We thank McKenna Hayes at Food Connects for support as a reviewer. This report was made possible with support from the USDA National Agricultural Library.

Suggested Citation

Vt. L. & Grad. Sch. Ctr. for Agric. and Food Sys., A Guide for Food Hubs on Food Safety Compliance (2023), https://www.vermontlaw.edu/sites/default/files/2023-11/guide-for-food-hubs-on-food-safety-compliance.pdf.

Erika Dunyak

Former Staff Attorney, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems

Erika Dunyak was formerly a Staff Attorney at the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law and Graduate School. She currently is a Visiting Clinical Professor of Law and the Director of the Business Start-up Clinic at Roger Williams University. She received a JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and LLM at University of Arkansas.

Andrew Marchev

Legal Food Hub Fellow, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems

Andrew Marchev JD’18 received his BA from Warren Wilson College and his JD from Vermont Law School. While in law school, Andrew interned for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and served as a Legal Food Hub Fellow at the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems.