Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
water to remove soil and other contaminants before being cut, combined with other
ingredients, cooked, served, or offered for human consumption in ready-to-eat form.”
Packaged produce labeled “ ready - to - eat, ” “ washed, ” or “ triple washed ” need not be
washed.
In April 2006, Commodity Specifi c Food Safety Guidelines for the Lettuce and
Leafy Greens Supply Chain produced by International Fresh- cut Produce Association
(2006), the Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Growers,
and Western Growers were published, as follows:
Whatever the preferred production and processing method may be for a single
producer, the lettuce/leafy greens industry recognizes the following basic prin-
ciples that serve as the foundation for all food safety programs found within the
industry:
•
The lettuce/leafy greens industry recognizes that once lettuce/leafy greens are
contaminated, removing or killing pathogens is diffi cult. Therefore, preven-
tion of microbial contamination at all steps from production to distribution is
strongly favored over treatments to eliminate contamination after it has
occurred.
•
The lettuce/leafy greens industry supports implementation and documen-
tation of food safety programs that utilize risk assessment techniques that
identify signifi cant risks and use a preventive approach to ensure safe food
products.
•
The lettuce/leafy greens industry also supports and encourages routine and
regularly scheduled food safety awareness training for all persons who grow,
handle, distribute, process, prepare and/or serve lettuce/leafy greens products.
•
The human pathogens most often associated with produce (
Salmonella
and
E. coli
O157:H7) cause infection and illness by the fecal-oral route of food
contamination. Therefore, lettuce/leafy greens food safety programs should
pay special attention to controlling, reducing and eliminating potential fecal
contamination from people and domestic and wild animals through the most
likely conduits, that being human hands, water and soil.
What was absent in this decade of outbreaks, letters from regulators, and plans
from industry associations and media accounts, was verifi cation that farmers and
others in the farm-to-fork food safety system were seriously adapting to the messages
about risk and the numbers of sick people, and then translating such information into
behavioral changes that enhanced front-line food safety practices.
The 1996 outbreaks and the 1998 FDA guide did help initiate efforts to implement
on-farm food safety programs. The very nature of produce that makes it healthy (fresh
and consumed raw) is what makes fresh produce a high-risk food for transmitting
microbial contamination. Without the microbiological kill step provided by cooking,
produce is vulnerable to contamination from the farm-to-fork. Pathogens can contami-
nate at any point along the food chain—at the farm, in the packing shed, in the pro-
cessing plant, in the transportation vehicle, at the retail store or foodservice operation,
and in the home. By understanding where potential problems exist, it is possible to
develop strategies to reduce risks of contamination (Tauxe and others 1997).
