Opinion: Washington Fruit Industry Emphasizes Food Safety

Brian SparksThis past December’s Washington State Horticultural Association (WSHA) annual meeting put the spotlight on how growers can prepare their orchards for the future through innovation. Much of the focus was on mechanization, variety selection, and the use of new technologies in spraying and postharvest.

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However, preparing your farm for the future also means having a good handle on the external factors that can make or break your success. One of the most important of these factors is food safety, in particular complying with eventual implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule.

One of the many panel discussions that took place at the WSHA meeting covered in-the-field food safety issues. The panel included a retail representative (Milinda Dwyer of Costco Wholesale), a packer (Jim Colbert of Chelan Fruit), a university food safety specialist (Karen Killinger of Washington State University), and a grower (Derek Allred of Mt. View Acres). The discussion was moderated by Warren Morgan of Double Diamond Fruit, who immediately cited the example of Jensen Farms, the Colorado cantaloupe grower whose owners, brothers Eric and Ryan Jensen, were taken away in handcuffs after pleading guilty to federal criminal charges involving contaminated cantaloupe.

The Jensens, ironically, had recently passed a food safety audit, but as Morgan pointed out, “passing an audit does not mean your food is safe.” Morgan emphasized that because there is no “kill-step” to prevent an outbreak, growers must take a systems approach and focus on every possible risk in the field and in the packinghouse, and how to minimize them.

“Become” Food Safety

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Several of the panelists pointed out that even if you’re an individual grower who runs a fairly small operation, you need to make sure everyone connected to your business is on board with food safety. “It’s important to get buy-in from everyone on the importance of sanitation and good practices,” said Allred, who farms in Royal City, WA. “You can’t just track food safety; you need to ‘become’ food safety.”

Colbert, who represents a number of growers, noted that when it came time to prepare them for an audit, he began by reassuring them that if they were already in compliance with current regulations — which they, of course, should be — they were already halfway there. He also took the step of providing incentives for growers to comply. It worked well; only nine of the more than 200 growers who supply produce to Chelan Fruit did not pass their audits.

In the future, Colbert emphasized that food safety practices will become a condition for any grower looking to sell their fruit to a buyer. He also acknowledged the “audit fatigue” and confusion that can develop when you’re faced with multiple audit programs, in and out of the field, from multiple sources.

However, the take-home message from Colbert and the other panelists was that most growers are likely more prepared for upcoming regulations than they realize. For those that remain confused, Dwyer pointed out the valuable assistance that organizations such as United Fresh Produce Association and Produce Marketing Association can provide. “These are both excellent resources, and growers should take advantage of the knowledge they offer,” said Dwyer.

Three Keys To Compliance

Killinger, whose two current research focus areas are overhead evaporative cooling and bin sanitation, said that the battle for food safety will never be over. “We have to work together as an industry — it’s not just about food safety, it’s also about quality and profitability for all growers,” she said. Killinger also emphasized that growers must have employees who can “speak” food safety when the time comes to do so.

The bottom line, said Killinger, is there will be three keys to making food safety compliance practical for growers:
• Communication
• Education
• Vigilance

The question is, how prepared are you in each of these areas? If you’re uncertain, take some time to sit down and review all of your farming practices. If you’re not ready or getting ready now, you’re risking your own future.

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