Transcript Understanding FSMA + GAPs

The New Food Safety Law Will
Affect Your Farm Business
– An Overview
Mary Lamberts
UF Miami-Dade County Extension
Overview of the Presentation
• Why are food safety regulations for
fruits & vegetables important?
• How will the Food Safety
Modernization Act (FSMA) affect my
farm and packinghouse?
• Components of an on-farm food
safety program: Good Agricultural
Practices (GAPs)
• FSMA/GAPs resources
What is Food Safety?
• Food safety is the science of keeping food safe from
“farm to fork”
• Safe food is free of all biological, chemical, physical
and environmental hazards or contaminations
• For the consumer, this means produce is safe to eat
• Food safety describes the conditions and practices
that are used to prevent contamination and
foodborne illnesses
Why is Food Safety Important?
• Foodborne illness is a significant problem
• About 48 million (1 in 6 Americans) get sick
each year
• 128,000 are hospitalized
• 3,000 die
• Immune-compromised individuals more
susceptible
• Infants and children, pregnant women, older
individuals, those on chemotherapy
Source: CDC 2011 Report: http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011foodborne-estimates.html
Why is Food Safety Important?
2012 Produce Outbreaks
• Spinach and spring mix (?) – 5 states
• Escherichia coli O157:H7
• Mangoes (Mexico) – 15 states
• Salmonella Braenderup
• Cantaloupe – 24 states
• Salmonella Typhimurium and
Newport
• Raw clover sprouts, restaurant chain
– 11 states (2 facilities, but 1 seed lot)
• Escherichia coli O26
producesafety.osu.edu
Why is Food Safety Important?
2011 Produce Outbreaks
•
Romaine lettuce (salad bar;
1 farm, 1 distributor) – 10 states
• Escherichia coli O157:H7
•
Turkish pine nuts – 5 states
• Salmonella Enteritidis
•
Colorado Cantaloupes – 28 states
•
•
•
news.ucdavis.edu
pages.uoregon.edu
147 illnesses; 30 deaths
Listeria monocytogenes
Papayas (Mexico) – 25 states
• Salmonella Agona
hort.purdue.edu
Why is Food Safety Important?
2011 Produce Outbreaks (cont.)
•
•
Alfalfa and spicy sprouts (Idaho)
• Salmonella Enteritidis
Travel to Germany - Shiga toxin-producing E.
coli O104
•
•
•
producesafety.osu.edu
Acknowledged to be one of the most inept government
investigations in recent history
Associated (eventually) with German sprouts but in the meantime,
destroyed the Spanish cucumber industry for the season
Guatemalan Cantaloupe – 10 states
• Salmonella Panama
(http://www.cdc.gov/outbreaknet/outbreaks.html)
Why YOU need to worry about food safety
Examples of earlier outbreaks, including
costs
Spinach
• 2006 – E. coli: 5 people died; 205 were
hospitalized across 23 states
• The outbreak ended up costing the spinach
industry $350 million, and a large number of
customers
• 1 year later, sales of spinach nationally were still
down by 20%
Outbreaks on Tomatoes: 2000 - 2005
Date
Crop
Pathogen
Cases
Oct-00
Cherry tomatoes
Calicivirus
34
May-01
Tomatoes
Shigella flexneri
886
Jul-02
Tomatoes
Salmonella
Javiana
141
Jun-04
Tomatoes
Salmonella spp.
429
Jun-04
Tomatoes
S. Braenderup
125
Jul-04
Tomatoes
S. Javiana
7
Sept-06
Tomatoes
Samonella spp.
172
Sept-06
Tomatoes
Salmonella
Typhimurium
183
www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/
Tomatoes
• 2008 Salmonella Stpaul
outbreak
• CDC first learned about the
it May 22, 2008 when there
were 19 cases
http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/files/146257.pdf
• 1 month after the erroneous tomato warning, FDA
issued one for peppers
• A total of 1,400 people were reported as infected,
though the number was probably much higher
• The cost to the tomato industry was $100 million in
Florida and $14 million in Georgia
Sprouts
• 2011 – Raw clover sprouts: A total of 25
individuals infected with the outbreak strain of E.
coli O26 have been reported from 8 states
• 2010 – Clover & alfalfa sprouts: 2 outbreaks with
7 + 140 sickened with Salmonella serotype
I4,[5],12:i:
• 2009 – Alfalfa sprouts: 256 sickened by six
isolates of Salmonella Saintpaul
What else do we know about food safety?
What Type of Produce Makes People Sick?
Source: Food
Safety Begins on
the Farm
Sources of Outbreaks from Produce
Source: Food
Safety Begins
on the Farm
Pathogens in Produce Outbreaks
Source: Food Safety
Begins on the Farm
Since then,
Listeria has been
found on some
netted melons.
This is a very
dangerous
pathogen since it
has a high
mortality rate
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
How will FSMA affect my farm and
packinghouse?
Who will be covered?
• The proposed rule will apply to farms that
• grow
• harvest
• pack
• or hold
most fruits and vegetables when those fruits and
vegetables are in their raw or natural (unprocessed)
state
How will FSMA affect my farm and
packinghouse?
Who will be covered?
• The proposed rule will not apply to certain produce:
• produce that is rarely consumed raw (potatoes,
asparagus, bok choy and cranberries)
• produce that will receive processing that kills
pathogens
• produce for personal or on-farm consumption
How will FSMA affect my farm and
packinghouse?
Who will be covered?
• The proposed rule will not apply to farms that only sell
directly to their consumers (CSA, farmers’ markets, etc.)
Despite this FSMA exemption for farms and individuals who
sell directly to consumers, everyone who sells fresh
produce must comply with 3 parts of this law:
a. Develop and implement a food safety plan
b.Have a written traceability plan for at least one step
forward and one step back
c. Implement an employee training program that includes
food safety & personal hygiene
What would the proposed standards
cover?
They would focus on commonly identified routes of
microbial contamination of produce, including:
1. Agricultural water
2. Farm worker hygiene
3. Manure and other additions to the soil
4. Animals in growing areas, and
5. Equipment, tools and buildings
There are also specific proposed standards for
sprouts
Source: FDA webinar 2-17-13
Source: FDA webinar 2-17-13
Source: FDA webinar 2-17-13
Source: FDA webinar 2-17-13
Source: FDA webinar 2-17-13
Source: FDA webinar 2-17-13
Which are you?
If I wait long enough these
pesky regulations will go
away . . .
Ooops! It looks like I
waited too long to write
my food safety plan and
now my farm is out of
business
Guiding Principles of Food Safety
for Fresh Produce
Keys to Good Agricultural
Practices (GAPs)
Examples of how to implement a
food safety program
Basic Principle of GAPs
• Growers and packers must do everything possible
to prevent contamination
• It is extremely difficult to clean and disinfect
produce surfaces once they are contaminated
• There is the potential for pathogens to move
inside produce during postharvest operations
• If you don’t write it down, you didn’t do it
Food Safety: What You Can Do Now
• Practical, realistic ways to start your food safety
program
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
1. Water
• Use clean water for everything
• Irrigation
• Water to mix with fertilizers or pesticides
• Water for washing produce
• Water for cleaning harvest equipment
• How clean is clean?
• Meets drinking water
standards
• Tested every year
“Wherever water comes
into contact with fresh
produce, its quality dictates
the potential for pathogen
contamination.” FDA
Use Potable Water to Wash Produce
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
2. Manure & Municipal Biosolids
• Use manures and biosolids following FDA guidelines
• Avoid low growing crops, especially leafy greens
• Observe requirements for the time between
application of manures & biosolids and planting
specific crops
“GAPs for the use of animal manure or
biosolids include treatments to reduce
pathogens and maximizing the time
between application to production areas
and harvest of the crops.” FDA
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
3. Worker Health & Hygiene
• Be aware of personal health & hygiene
• Don’t work when you’re sick or let employees work
when they’re sick
• Train employees in proper hand washing & when it
must be done
• Make sure any cuts are covered or send the
employee home if they can’t be covered
“Infected employees who work with fresh produce
increase the risk of transmitting foodborne illnesses.”
FDA
Workers
• Must not work when they are sick.
• Should wash hands often
• Must not pick contaminated
produce
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
4. Sanitary Facilities
• Provide toilet and hand washing facilities
• Make sure employees use provided toilets
• Hand washing facilities should be outside bathrooms
• Toilets need a sewage disposal system
• Field sinks must be able to collect used water
“Infected employees who work with fresh produce
increase the risk of transmitting foodborne illnesses.”
FDA
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
5. Field Sanitation
• Clean, clean, clean
• Clean harvest bins before use & before storing
• Clean harvesting equipment such as knives or
clippers before use & before storing
• If produce is field washed or packed, make sure it
stays clean
• Remove as much as dirt as possible before leaving
the field
• Do not eat, chew gum or smoke in the field
• Leave pets at home!
Equipment and Containers
• Clean knives and picking buckets or boxes often.
• Use new plastic bags, etc.
• Wash everything at
the end of the day
& store off the
ground
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
6. Packing Facility Sanitation
• Wash, rinse, and sanitize packing areas and floors at
the end of each day
• Don’t eat or smoke in the packing area
• Don’t wear field clothes in the packing area
• Use chlorine or another sanitizer in the wash water
• Change the wash water if it gets dirty
• Make sure bathrooms & hand washing
sinks are used
Keep Produce at Proper Temperatures
• Temperatures vary by product
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
7. Transportation
• Make sure vehicles & containers used to transport
produce are clean
• Maintain proper temperatures
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
7. Traceback
• The ability to track food items, including fresh
produce, back to their source
• Your records should include:
• date of harvest
• farm identification
• who handled the produce from grower to receiver
http://producesafety.osu.edu/gaps/traceability
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/ctahr/farmfoodsafety/
GAPs information from ANR Publication 8102
Documentation: Write It Down!
• Dates
• What you did
• Who was there
• If it’s not written,
you didn’t do it
Food Safety for Small Farms Is Impossible
to Standardize
• BUT that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t or can’t do it.
Now is the time to start
Regardless of the scale:
from legislation to
implementation, it is a
“work in progress”
Some FSMA / GAPs Resources
• FSMA:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/
default.htm
• FDA Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards
for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables:
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceCompli
anceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/Prod
uceandPlanProducts/UCM169112.pdf
Some FSMA / GAPs Resources
• USDA GAPs Audit Programs:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/HarmonizedGAP
• National GAPs website: http://www.gaps.cornell.edu
• University of Florida’s food safety website:
http://fshn.ifas.ufl.edu/foodsafety/ (includes Floridaspecific Tomato GAPs, and other information)
Some FSMA / GAPs Resources
• University of California-Davis food safety website:
http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/Preharvest/#
• includes commodity-specific food safety guidance for:
• cantaloupe
• culinary herbs
• green onions
• leafy greens
• tomatoes
How Do I Develop a Food Safety Plan
• The grant received by the Tropical Fruit Growers of
South Florida includes funding for workshops for both
fruit and vegetable growers to help them develop
their own plans
• Check this website for more information:
http://www.floridafarmfoodsafety.org/p/about.html
• You can also use this website: http://miamidade.ifas.ufl.edu/agriculture/commveg2.shtml
• You must check with the companies that buy your
products to see what they require, then develop a
plan