Food Safety Considerations and Design for Packing Sheds
Robert Hadad, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program

This diagram, showing food safety considerations and design recommendations for packing sheds, is not intended to give actual dimensions and square footage since packing sheds can be any size, shape, and configuration. It can be as formal as a permanent building or a canopy at the edge of a field (four sticks and a lid). What really matters is allowing enough room to accomplish the tasks without spreading contamination into the finished product during packing. If produce washing is done, then it is crucial that unwashed product doesn't come into contact with washed produce and the workers doing the washing are clean themselves.
The washing station set up needs to have enough room to move produce in and out. The equipment set-up should consider good drainage to keep the floor as dry as possible, no pooling, or splashing onto clean produce.
Wash Line and Packing Shed Design for Food Safety (pdf; 333KB)


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Rochester Soil Health Field Day
September 16, 2025
Rochester, NY
Join us for a hands-on soil health field day! This event is for small-scale and urban growers, gardeners and farmers, with a focus on best practices for building soil health and cover cropping, and is a part of the 2025 Soil Health and Climate Resilience Field Days. It will offer valuable insights and hands-on demonstrations to enhance soil health.
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