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Huge Gaps Found in Small Farms’ Food Safety Practices

David Eddy Posted by David Eddy|

A survey of small farmers in Texas identifies a significant gap in food safety protocols and resources, increasing the risk of produce contamination and foodborne illness. Very few small growers – most of whom are not required to follow federal food safety guidelines – have previous food safety training, according to the study led by the University of Houston (UH) Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management.

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High-risk practices that can increase the risk of produce contamination include using raw manure or a combination of manure and soil amendments, allowing livestock to freely roam the farm, not providing hand-washing or toilet facilities near the farm or packing area, and using dirty tools and equipment. About 46% of all foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. are caused by produce.

Seventy small farmers were surveyed at a fruits and vegetable conference in Rosenberg, TX, to assess their knowledge of food safety protocols. The results are published in the Journal of Food Protection.

Even though more than 51% of survey participants said their workers use bare hands for harvesting, 39% of growers do not provide hand-washing facilities, and 46% of growers do not provide toilet facilities. Providing hand-washing and portable toilet facilities should be the growers’ priority, according to lead study author Zahra Mohammad, as they play a key role in preventing cross-contamination and reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses.

The researchers’ ultimate goal is to develop targeted and specific food safety training materials to help small growers minimize contamination and provide safe and healthy produce to consumers. Small growers typically sell most of their produce at farmers markets and earn less than $25,000 in annual sales.

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“There are definite gaps in their food safety knowledge, so it’s critical that we reach these small growers with robust education to make them aware of the risks associated with these practices, as well as safer alternatives,” said Mohammad, a post-doctoral fellow at UH.

More than 34% of growers use manure and 51% have domestic animals on the farm. The use of animal manure presents a risk of produce contamination with pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella, while farm animals introduces a risk of fecal contamination of produce, the researchers wrote.

Other key findings include:

  • Only 25% of growers have access to food safety training materials for their employees, such as posters, booklets, and signs.
  • Only 21% of participants have previous food safety training.
  • Approximately 87% did not test irrigation water, which is one of the most critical sources of produce contamination.
  • About 30% of growers believe that organic produce is safer than conventional produce and 37% believe that organically grown produce has fewer harmful bacteria. How produce is grown – organically or conventionally – does not reflect the quality of food safety practices, according to the researchers.

Large and medium-sized farms are required to follow the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which sets standards for every stage of produce production, including standards for growing, harvesting, packing, and holding produce for human consumption. Most small farmers, including those surveyed for the study, are not required to comply with all FSMA rules.

“These growers are often overlooked with resources, so we need to reach them. Instead of dealing with a foodborne illness after the fact, we’re trying to prevent it,” said Sujata Sirsat, an Assistant Professor at the Hilton College, who acknowledges that few produce safety outbreaks are associated with farmers markets, noting that it’s unclear if less contamination happens at the markets or they are just harder to trace.

“Stopping foodborne illness at the farm is the key, and that’s why this study is important. If you have pathogens internalized into the produce, it doesn’t matter if you wash, rinse, and sanitize once you get it home. It may be too late,” she added.

The study was funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Texas Department of Agriculture. Other study authors include Isabelle do Prado, a UH undergraduate student, and Rene Nieto and Richard De Los Santos with the Texas Department of Agriculture.

[UPDATE per the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s EurekAlert!]

Editor’s Note: This study and its survey were conducted prior to Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, a necessary step in the University’s compliance protocols to ensure federal regulations and ethical principles are followed. Because the survey was conducted prior to the required approval, the principal investigator has voluntarily retracted the manuscript. An internal review will follow.

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David Eddy is Editor of American Fruit Grower, a Meister Media Worldwide publication. See all author stories here.

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Avatar for Kristin LEE Woods Kristin LEE Woods says:
December 16, 2020 at 9:34 am

I think that developing resources for small farmers is a much needed endeavor and I applaud Dr. Sirsat and her team for this endeavor. However, the way this article is written gives the impression that much risk comes from these small farmers. There is actually no evidence to suggest that these farmers are more of a risk than any others. The foodborne illnesses cited in the beginning of the article were largely caused by larger farmers and processors that would be subject to FSMA Rules. Let’s provide small farmers with resources so that we can make safe food even safer, not because we want to demonize small farmers.

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Avatar for George Philley George Philley says:
December 16, 2020 at 7:52 pm

Small Texas farmers may be lacking food safety training but they do have common sense. They don’t dwell on problems that don’t exist.

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Avatar for Holly Rose Mawby Holly Rose Mawby says:
December 17, 2020 at 9:55 am

This article may not tell the whole story. While the survey reported on food safety issues, did the survey delve farther into those issues – such as no toilet facilities near the field, on very small farms it is quite common to use a restroom in the home or barn because it is close enough. Another item would be no hand washing stations, again, on very small farms with few or no employees it is quite common for those farmers to wash their hands in the house. Yes, they have domestic animals, but do they keep those animals out of the fields? The questions you ask for small farms are different or more in depth. They didn’t test their water – but are they watering with municipal water sources? It’s the follow up questions that would tell the whole story. Short, abridged articles like this leave a bad mark on small producers, sometimes unnecessarily.

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Avatar for Chris Morgan Chris Morgan says:
December 17, 2020 at 10:39 am

I appreciate this research and the desire of Dr. Sirsat et al. to improve food safety among producers. However, the findings as they are presented here are a bit unclear and perhaps not very significant. Much of the verbiage in the article is directly from the abstract (available online). What caught my eye first was the statement about the size of the farm – “Small growers typically sell most of their produce at farmers markets and earn less than $25,000 in annual sales.” Wow, that seems to be a rather small producer – and I suspect does not represent a majority of the food consumed; as stated in the article, most of the sales are at farmer’s markets, so these producers are unlikely to be selling to the big retail chains.
Regarding “hand-washing facilities” and “toilet facilities,” additional information would be helpful to define what these are referring to. Someone earning ≤$25,000 in annual sales from produce may not have these facilities in the field, but may very well be available in a house or barn within a short walking distance from the growing field. Including the average number of employees on a “small farm” would be helpful so we could gain a better understanding of the sample that was surveyed.
Also, the article states that “domestic animals” were on 51% of the farms – I wonder what animals would be included there? A dog? A barn cat? Some laying hens? Or is it a small cattle feedlot? How close are the animals to the produce being gown? Do harvesters interact with the domestic animals? More information would be helpful to the reader.
Perhaps most confusing to me was how the abstract described these small growers, “Small growers earn ≤$25,000 in annual sales over a 3-year period and have an average food sale of less than $500,000.” I’m unsure how “annual sales” and “food sale” are defined, which makes me even more curious about these growers.
Perhaps the most insightful statement in the abstract was, “> 41% of participants could not recognize the difference between hydroponically grown produce and conventional systems.” A grower who is unfamiliar with these two different types of production may be more of a hobbyist rather than a professional grower.
As stated by Mr. Philley, common sense of the producer and the consumer will go a long way to prevent food borne illnesses.

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Avatar for T. Lopez T. Lopez says:
December 19, 2020 at 7:07 am

Does Texas have a cooperative extension service ? I think this is more of a reflection or their educational and outreach program or lack of then anything else. Everyone regardless of size should pratice food safety and there is no evidence linking less safe food from small farms. In fact most food borne ilness outbreaks have come from lrge farms and Corp. packing sheds. This is people not doing the jobs they are already being paid to do extension service , dept of Agriculture , helth dept. education and outreach not fines and citations.

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Avatar for Judith McGeary Judith McGeary says:
January 6, 2021 at 11:54 am

In addition to the substantive flaws with the study – some of which other commenters have already noted — the authors failed to follow basic required ethics requirements.

This is posted on the same page as the original press release:

Editor’s Note: This study and its survey were conducted prior to Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, a necessary step in the University’s compliance protocols to ensure federal regulations and ethical principles are followed. Because the survey was conducted prior to the required approval, the principal investigator has voluntarily retracted the manuscript. An internal review will follow.

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