How The Produce Industry Advances Its Goals For Safety

On June 21st and 22nd, the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) held its 13th annual Research Symposium, this year in La Jolla, California. Food safety is something that the produce industry takes very seriously. That was reflected in the participation at this year’s event by 315 individuals who play variously safety-related roles in 168 different organizations. CPS is an organization founded in 2007 that is financially supported by a long list of companies involved in the produce sector and other parts of the food industry (see pictures of contributor lists presented below in order to reflect that diversity). Since 2008 CPS has provided research grants to mostly academic labs for research projects focused on food safety issues, and this is the forum at which the funded scientists report their results (12 projects, $3.7MM). The CPS purpose statement is, “Fund the Science – Find Solutions – Fuel the Change.”

The symposium audience included stakeholder representatives from farming entities, produce handlers, the fresh cut industry, food companies, food retailers and restaurant chains. There were also representatives from several federal and state agencies, and from other farm industry organizations. Several companies that supply sanitation and testing technologies were represented as were consulting groups that specialize in food safety issues.

This very significant effort stems from the the industry’s commitment to their role in providing safe, tasty, and healthy fruit and vegetable products for American consumers. Among the many challenges these businesses face is the need to prevent incidents of food borne illness that can occur if the products are contaminated with various bacteria, viruses, and other parasites. These events are extremely rare and billions of meals are enjoyed without any problems, but when there are produce-related food poisoning incidents or even precautionary product recalls, it can be extremely damaging for the affected brands. The impact often goes well beyond the players directly involved as it can hurt sales for entire categories. That is why so many competitors in the marketplace are united in the on-going process of refining protocols to deal with well-understood disease agents and doing the research to understand emerging threats.

The fact that these foods come from crops that are grown outdoors creates an inherent level of risk since pathogens can exist in soils, in surface water used for irrigation, in bird droppings, or even in dust blown from nearby animal farms. Worker hygiene is also an important consideration. While contamination events may be rare, they can be spread by equipment or in something like wash water at a packing facility. That is why responsible farmers and other handlers follow strict safety protocols and use a variety of sanitation methods and testing protocols to manage the risk.

Some projects reported this year involved new sterilization technologies including bacteriophages (viruses that kill bacteria), anti-bacterial blue light (a safer option than ultraviolet), ultra-fine bubble technology for ozone, chlorine dioxide, bio-based antimicrobial coatings, and cold plasma to generate reactive oxygen species. There was also a good deal of research involving new detection and monitoring methods.

Another focus was on some relatively new food borne illnesses caused by a virus and an unusual parasite called Cyclospora cayetanesis. In both of these cases the agents are difficult to work with in the lab, and so the science is still unfolding in terms of where the threats originate, the efficacy of various control methods, proper identification during screening efforts, and how to accurately gauge the pathogen’s infectivity if it is detected.

Although the meeting was very science-oriented, the event was specifically designed to foster interactions between the researchers and those in the industry. After the project update presentations there were multiple, facilitated breakout sessions in which all the audience members were given the assignment to discuss: 1) is there something in this research I can apply? 2) how would I do it? and 3) how do we drive it to be better and better. Then those discussions were summarized for the entire audience by interactive panels which also responded to audience questions.

Near the end of the meeting there was a featured interview with Randy Babbit, a previous FAA administrator who played a major role in the airline industry’s cooperative safety program. That was followed by a panel discussion about what lessons could be learned from that example for the produce industry as it continues it’s long term commitment to pursue its safety goals.

A safe and affordable fresh produce supply is important for public health. As a Harvard University-based nutrition site puts it: “A diet rich in vegetables and fruits can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect upon blood sugar, which can help keep appetite in check.” The CPS research program is an excellent example of a public/private partnership that benefits society as a whole.