Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
important, as is the equipment used to wash, sort, grade, and pack the produce being
harvested. Equipment should be made of smooth materials that are impervious to dirt
and moisture and easily cleanable. The facility should be designed and constructed to
minimize product contamination and facilitate the cleaning and sanitizing process. All
equipment should be installed with enough space around it (from walls and other
equipment) to facilitate easy disassembly, cleaning, and sanitizing.
The surfaces of all equipment that come in contact with produce can accumulate
plant residues, exudates and juices, soil, debris, and other materials and can become
a source of contamination. Biofi lms, which are an accumulation of bacterial cells and
food debris, can form on food contact surfaces if proper and thorough cleaning and
sanitizing procedures are not performed on a regular basis (Bihn and Gravani 2006).
Once biofi lms form on surfaces, they are diffi cult to remove, so a master schedule of
cleaning and sanitizing procedures must be developed, implemented, maintained, and
properly recorded for equipment and environmental surfaces throughout the facility.
Because there are a wide variety of cleaners and sanitizers on the market today, it is
recommended that growers and packinghouse operators contact chemical suppliers for
advice on their specifi c cleaning and sanitizing needs (Bihn and Gravani 2006).
Employee facilities such as locker rooms, toilets, and lunchrooms should be prop-
erly lit, clean, orderly, in good repair, and well maintained. These facilities should be
located in an area of the packinghouse where the contamination of produce and equip-
ment cannot occur (Bihn and Gravani 2006). Since toilets and hand-washing facilities
are vital to the hygiene of employees and to produce safety, they should also be cleaned
on a regular basis. The reader is referred to chapter 16.
Animal and Pest Management
Because most fruits and vegetables are grown in soil and outdoors, contamination can
occur from many sources. The data in Table 5.3 indicate the need for domestic and
feral animal control in fi elds and pest control in the packinghouse. There are several
examples of produce-associated outbreaks where traceback investigations have
showed that animal intrusions were linked to the contaminated products. Manure from
domestic animals living in close proximity to irrigation water sources and near produc-
tion fi elds can fi nd its way into an irrigation water source and then onto crops. In the
spinach outbreak that occurred in 2006, the same serotype of
E.coli
O157:H7 found
in victims was also found in dairy cattle from farms that were in close proximity to
the spinach operation and in feral pigs that were found in the spinach fi elds. It is
important to site produce fi elds away from cattle operations and to not allow any
animals, including poultry or pets, to roam in crop areas. Building fences or other
barriers to keep feral animals out of production areas is vital to the safety of the
products grown there. Also, steps should be taken to minimize wild animal and bird
traffi c in ponds and through fi elds where possible.
In the packinghouse, sanitary design and sanitation are important components in
pest management. The packinghouse should be properly designed and constructed,
protected from the environment, and maintained in a clean and sanitary manner (Bihn
and Gravani 2006). Some packing facilities are open structures where insects, rodents
(mice and rats), birds, reptiles, amphibians, and other pests can easily enter and con-
taminate equipment, food contact surfaces, and product. The most important pest
