Good Agricultural Practices - Farm to Tablefarmtotable.colostate.edu/docs/GAPsWebinar1.pdf · Good Agricultural Practices Farm to Table Food Safety for Colorado Producers PART I
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Good Agricultural Practices Farm to Table Food Safety for Colorado Producers PART I Food Safety Basics, Regulatory Landscape, 3 rd Party Audits, and Worker Hygiene
PART I Food Safety Basics, Regulatory Landscape, 3rd Party Audits, and
Worker Hygiene
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Good afternoon everyone- welcome to Good Agricultural Practices: Farm to Table Food Safety for Colorado Producers. Its great to see such a large turnout for this presentation. This is the first session to a three part series that we will be presenting over the next three Wednesdays in March. This presentation is funded in part the Colorado Department of Agriculture through the USDA’s specialty crop grant program and by Colorado State University Extension and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
• Speakers:
Gretchen Wall Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition Colorado State University
Martha Sullins
Coordinator, County Information Service Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Colorado State University
• Topics: o Foodborne Illness o Potential Sources of On-farm Contamination o Regulatory Landscape o Overview of 3rd Party Food Safety Audits o Hand Washing, Hygiene, and Health
Presenters & Agenda
Funded in part by the Colorado Department of Agriculture through the USDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
Presenter
Presentation Notes
My name is Gretchen Wall and I am a graduate student at Colorado State University. Joining me today is Dr. Marisa Bunning, assistant professor and CSU Extension Specialist in Food Safety, Tracy Vanderpool, CO Dept of Ag Fruit and Vegetable Section Chief, and Martha Sullins, Coordinator of the County Information Service. Before we get started, I’d like to orient you to the left side of the screen if you’re new to Adobe Connect and webinars. The lower left hand corner has a great chat box feature that will allow us to communicate during the presentation. Just type in your question or comment and hit enter and your text will appear in the chat box screen. We will try to address questions that are typed into this box at the end of the session. At the end of the presentation, we hope you’ll stick around to answer a few simple questions that will help guide us in the development of future webinars. This session will be recorded and posted on our website at http://farmtotable.colostate.edu if you want to go back and review slides or if a colleague missed the presentation. I’m going to turn it over to Marisa now to give a brief introduction before we begin. I just wanted to go over a brief outline of our objectives for this webinar. To begin, we’ll cover the basics of food safety and sources of contamination, to lay the foundation for why Good Agricultural Practices are an essential aspect to on-farm food safety. From there, Martha will discuss the new Food Safety Modernization Act and its implications to producers like yourself. We’ll also review what a third party audit is and walk you through what an audit entails. Finally, we’ll cover the first topic in GAPs, worker hygiene and health. I also just wanted to mention briefly that there is an incentive for participating in all three presentations in this webinar series- we’re offering a $30 value water testing kit, which I’ll discuss at the end of the presentation.
Food Safety Definitions
• Food Safety – the monitoring of food to ensure that it will not cause illness
• Foodborne Illness (FBI) – any illness resulting from the
consumption of food • Food Defense – protection from deliberate introduction of
a dangerous substance • Pathogen – disease causing microorganisms
Presenter
Presentation Notes
To begin, I’d like to introduce some common definitions used in food safety. A foodborne illness, also sometimes referred to as a foodborne disease, is any illness resulting from the consumption of contaminated food. In contrast, when you hear the term food defense: think intentional. This is protection from deliberate introduction of dangerous substances into the food supply, such as acts of bioterrorism. We won’t touch much on this topic, however, there are aspects of food defense included in some food safety audits and food safety plans. Lastly, a pathogen is a microscopic organism that can cause disease or illness in humans. There are many types of pathogens, an example of which I am sure you are familiar with is E.coli O157:H7. There are many resources available on the FDA’s website about specific pathogens if you want to learn more.
Types of Contamination
• Biological oMicroorganisms
o bacteria, viruses, parasites
oNatural Toxins o mushrooms, fish
• Chemical oEnvironmental Contaminants
o mercury, pesticides
• Physical oHarmful Objects
o glass, metal
Presenter
Presentation Notes
When discussing Good Agricultural Practices, we primarily refer to contamination of the biological kind. This category includes bacteria, parasites, and viruses that may be naturally present in the environment but can also be introduced during harvest and handling by humans. Biological contamination is by far, the hardest to control. The microscopic size and natural presence on animals and in soil make controlling them or knowing where they are very difficult. Eliminating contamination on fresh produce after it occurs is difficult, if not impossible for raw fruits and vegetables. In addition, washing produce may not remove all harmful bacteria. Preventing contamination before it gets there is key. Natural toxins can also be considered biological contamination, such as those found in some types of mushrooms or fish, however we’re generally less concerned with these types on the farm. Chemical contamination may include mercury, pesticides, or other harmful substances. You may recall the contamination of pet foods and infant formula with melamine. This event resulted in 500,000 hospitalizations, as well as several deaths, not to mention the on-going health problems that many will face in the future as a result. Physical contamination is somewhat easier to control. On farm, physical contaminants may include parts of machinery, wood, or broken glass, that may have been introduced from the field or during harvest.
Recent Outbreaks
2011:
2006: Spinach
E. coli O157:H7
2010: Eggs
Salmonella
2003: Green Onions
Hepatitis A
2004: Roma Tomatoes
Salmonella
2005: Frozen Raspberries
Norovirus
2007: Ground Beef
E. coli O157:H7
2009: Peanut Butter
Salmonella
2008: Cantaloupe/Peppers
Salmonella
?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Any of us who has personally suffered from a foodborne illness understands why food safety is crucial to keeping our food safe. Gastrointestinal illnesses are certainly not fun. For healthy individuals, foodborne illness is a miserable experience as well as an inconvenience due to lost time at work or expenses from doctor visits. However, for some people, foodborne illness may result in much more serious consequences. Children, the elderly, and those who have compromised immune systems may not just become ill, they are also more likely to die or have more severe complication. Within the past decade, a major foodborne illness outbreak has occurred every year. Last year the Salmonella outbreak in eggs was the major headline of newspapers around the country. The outbreaks listed here are just some of the more publicized events that have drawn media attention. These outbreaks affected larger populations and geographical areas. The fact is, that foodborne outbreaks occur daily, but on smaller scales often go unreported. Whether an outbreak affects one person or 500 people, food safety and the use of Good Agricultural Practices can begin to reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness. One outbreak I want to point out, in particular, was the 2006 Spinach outbreak associated with E. coli. This incident cost the spinach industry a whopping $175 million. The source was traced back to irrigation water that had been contaminated by manure runoff from infected cattle. I’ll talk more about this outbreak in the second webinar on March 23- as the source involved two of the primary suspects for contamination, manure and irrigation water. Fortunately, no major outbreaks have occurred this year, but the question is when and what will strike next?
Foodborne Illness Statistics
Organism 2007 2008 2009
Campylobacter species 816 763 756
Salmonella species 563 716 622
Giardia lamblia 580 562 500
Shiga-toxin E. coli 165 212 168
Shigella species 122 149 103
Cryptosporidium 216 113 138
Hepatitis A 27 38 53
Listeria monocytogenes 11 8 9
Cyclospora 1 1 0
Clostridium botulinum 5 0 0
The economic cost to society is high U.S. estimates/year = $152 Billion Average cost per illness = $1,850
Colorado estimate = $2,336,000,000
Source: Scharff, R. (2010) http://www.makeourfoodsafe.org/cost_map Alicia Cronquist, CO Dept of Health and Environment
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Just to give you a perspective of food safety, its’ estimated that 48 million people in the United States each year suffer from foodborne illness. About 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 individuals actually die as a result. The economic cost to US is very high- $152 billion is lost annually to medical services, deaths, lost work, and disabilities. That works out to an average cost of $1,850 each time someone has a confirmed case of foodborne illness. As you can see from the following chart, Colorado is somewhat middle of the road in terms of foodborne outbreak cost. The FDA and CO Dept of Health estimate that $2 billion of that US total can be attributed to outbreaks originating in Colorado. In looking at the table above, these reported cases indicate that a significant number of Coloradoans are experiencing foodborne illness each year.
o Grows close to soil o Open environment o Large surface area o High moisture content o Generally favorable pH o Often consumed raw
Presenter
Presentation Notes
So what makes fruits and vegetables such a common target for foodborne illness outbreaks? Well, the first and most obvious one is that it grows outside. This is a no brainer. There are natural bacteria in the soil, insects, and animals. Without this ecosystem, we’d have no food. Its the pathogenic organisms that are of most concern in the bigger picture. The structure and exterior of the food may also affect whether bacteria will be present or difficult to remove. Think about lettuce or kale- it has a large surface area, a ton of folds, and a million places for bacteria to hide out. Fruits and vegetables also have the nutrients and water that organisms need to survive. pH, a measure of acidity, may also affect whether pathogens may grow. Lastly, fruits and vegetables are often consumed raw. I don’t cook my lettuce often, do you? Without a heat treatment, such as cooking, bacteria can continue to grow. Consumers are told to wash their fruits and veggies before eating them, but if pathogens are already present, it is very difficult to remove 100% to make a food safe.
Potential Sources of Pathogen Contamination
Source: Beuchat, 1996
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Where do these elusive pathogens come from? As you can see from this diagram there are many routes that pathogens can enter the food system. In the field, manure, irrigation water, both domestic and wild animals, and field workers may contribute to harmful bacteria on produce crops. While these sources of contamination in the field are not as easily controllable, introduction of pathogens post-harvest can be prevented by following good handling practices.
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) • GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices): agricultural
industry’s guide to minimize and prevent contamination of fresh fruits and vegetables on the farm.
• GHPs (Good Handling Practices): focuses on best
practices for packing and storing facilities, cleaning and sanitation, and transportation.
Before Planting
During Production
During Harvest
Post-Harvest
Presenter
Presentation Notes
What is the difference between Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices, or as we refer to them, GHPs? GAPs cover topics mainly related to the field, starting at planting and moving on through production and harvest. GHPs are all the practices that occur post-harvest, such as cooling, storage, or transportation, where produce might be directly handled by workers or machinery. It’s difficult to cover every detail of both GAPs and GHPs in 3 one hour presentations, but we’ll try to break each section down for you to get the wheels turning on some potential sources of contamination in an agricultural environment.
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
• Elements of GAPs o Worker Health & Hygiene o Irrigation Water o Manure o Sanitary Facilities o Field Sanitation o Packing Facility Sanitation o Transportation o Traceback
March 30
March 23
Presenter
Presentation Notes
In the last few slides, we’ve set the background for discussion of many topics in GAPs, but today, we’ll briefly go over Worker Hygiene, Health, and Training. We hope you’ll come back next week, March 23rd at the same time, where we’ll cover manure and irrigation topics. The last part to the series on March 30 will cover post-harvest topics, from field sanitation to traceback basics. Before we begin the first element of GAPs, it’s time for a quiz to see if you’ve been paying attention!
Pop Quiz!
Presenter
Presentation Notes
So here’s the million dollar question- How much did the 2006 E. coli outbreak cost the spinach industry? D is correct- a whopping $175 million dollars is the estimated total of the outbreak that resulted in the recall and destruction of millions of pounds of product, decreased sales, and an overall negative impact to the industry. Many spinach growers went under, specifically due to this outbreak. This is one case that we’d like to illustrate that food safety is a shared responsibility. If one grower is linked to an outbreak, the entire industry suffers.
Regulatory Landscape
2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510)
Passed January 5, 2011 Changes to occur in the next 9 months – 3 years Some impacts clear, some yet to be defined Focus on prevention, not detection of issues
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Now, I’d like to introduce Martha Sullins now who will explain in a bit more detail the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act and how it might affect on-farm food safety. This January, the Food Safety Modernization Act was passed by Congress. Before I begin to briefly explain the act, I should put a disclaimer out to say that we’ll have to wait until the regulations are finalized by the Food and Drug Administration to fully understand how these regulations will affect the fruit and vegetable industry, as well as small farmers in Colorado.
New Provisions
1) Recall food products with potentially severe health consequences
2) Adopt risk-based approaches to food safety 3) Inspect high risk food facilities 4) Gain access to records 5) Require foreign suppliers to comply with U.S. food
safety standards 6) Require food companies to have written food safety
plans (HACCP, GAPs, GMPs)
- Some exemptions exist for small scale producers and processors
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Why the time lag in understanding the impacts of this new legislation? Although the law has been passed, we don’t know how it will be regulated. The rules and guidelines have yet to be developed and published. The focus on prevention necessarily expands FDA’s authority and increases the tools FDA will need to trace and control any potential food-borne hazards. This includes developing regulations that apply to on-farm practices. Let’s talk about the general provisions first, and then look at who they impact and when that impact might occur. What is immediate and measurable in terms of FSMA’s impacts? The products affected-those already regulated by FDA will fall under this legislation, so that means dairy products and shell eggs; fish and seafood; raw ag commodities; canned foods; live food animals; bakery goods; food packaging and food contact substances. The businesses certainly impacted-any existing food facility (any business that processes, manufactures, packs, holds and/or transports food and food products destined for human consumption. The timeline-food facilities must register with the FDA every two years. Updated GAP guidelines will be published by FDA within the next 9 months. Within the next 18 months, FDA will require these registered facilities to have a HACCP plan, which will include preventative controls (such as…) and a food safety plan. New recordkeeping requirements must be issued within 2 years, for high risk foods. Not sure how this applies to fruits and vegetables.
What can farmers expect?
Possible exemptions o Low-risk fruits and vegetables o Farms that: Direct market more than 50% of products to qualified
end users Have gross sales of all food and food products of less
than $500,000 Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-
state or within 275 miles of where the products were harvested or processed
Disclose to consumers the name and address of the farm from which the food originated
FDA to develop minimum safe production and harvest standards to prevent food safety hazards
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Exemptions for farms (the Hagan/Tester Amendment) will be accorded if 50.1% or more food to qualified end users Who are those end users? Consumers, retailers, farmers’ markets, CSAs, roadside stands, public events and organizational fundraisers). Note that the exemption for farms can be withdrawn in the event of a food-borne illness. The variance process applies when local growing conditions make it difficult for a state to comply with a new regulation. It may also apply to small businesses or very small businesses – which have yet to be defined (such as on-farm processing or packing) as they will be defined by FDA, but these will still need to keep records and document their food safety practices
What can food facilities expect?
• Definition does not change Any business that packs or holds food that is not
grown, raised or consumed on that farm, or it manufactures or processes food that is not consumed on that farm [except for exempted farms, and farmers markets, roadside stands and CSAs]
Possible exemptions for facilities that make animal food and those that store raw ag commodities (but not fruits and vegetables)
• Requirements
Develop HACCP plan and written preventive controls plan to include sanitation, allergen controls, verification of suppliers, follow Good Manufacturing Practices Keep records of all of these plans
- A variance process will give some businesses and states extra time to comply
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Preventative controls may include pasteurization, freezing, cooking, appropriate cooking, washing or other control to contamination of food products with pathogens.
Tips to Remember
State, local and county government food safety laws must still be followed for producing, harvesting, holding, transporting, and selling fresh fruits and vegetables
Food buyers may still mandate food safety or certification programs: • Farm to School programs may be GAP audited • Retailers and institutional food service buyers may
still require food safety programs
Resources: Check FDA for updates http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FSMA/default.htm
Types of Audits
First Party: a self audit conducted by the firm Ex. Cornell GAPs Self Audit
Second Party: an audit performed by the buyer Ex. Grocery chain specifications
Third Party: an audit performed by a party separate from the producer or buyer Ex. USDA GAPs, Primus Labs, Davis Fresh, etc.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Thanks, Martha. I’m sure many of you are wondering about 3rd Party Audits for GAPs and how they might work. So, there are three types of audits: The first type is a self audit. Materials have been developed and are available from the USDA and Cornell to conduct a self audit on your farm. Essentially, the self audits will walk you through each and every step that might be included in an actual audit in order to prepare and identify areas that may need more attention in order to become compliant with GAPs standards. The second party audit is one that may be required or specified by your buyer, such as a grocery chain or food service establishment. Communication between the buyer and seller should be very clear on what is expected- and I will go over in detail on the next slide why this is so important. The last type is the 3rd Party Audit. Third party audits are being utilized by the retail and food service industry to verify that suppliers are in conformance to specific best practices for food safety on the farm. The audit process I will describe next is based on the USDA GAPs program, however, many other private companies such as Primus Labs or Davis Fresh will provide certification for food safety. Right now audits for food safety are NOT mandatory, however with changing legislation it is possible that it may be required in the future. In the webinar series, we’re hoping to provide you with the basic knowledge and resources to get started and be prepared for any future audits.
The Not-So-Scary Truth
90% of audit requirements are already being done on the farm,
they just need to be documented!
Presenter
Presentation Notes
So here’s the not-so-scary truth. GAPs auditors say that 90% of audit requirements are already being done on your farm- they just need to be documented! In order to be a successful producer, you’ve already mastered the hardest part! Although keeping a record of events on your farm may take a few extra minutes and require some organization, it is well worth your time in the long run. Auditors are there to help you- the overall goal of an audit is to improve your on-farm food safety practices. The word audit has a negative connotation sometimes, but in this case it really should be viewed as a tool to improve the value of your crops and the safety of your operation.
The Basics: On Farm Food Safety Audit 101
Audit is performed only by request of auditee Valid for 1 year (contingent upon passing unannounced audits)
Prior to start, applicant must sign an “Agreement to Participate” document
Program is designed for continual & consistent use o Unannounced visits will confirm consistent use
Unannounced visits (usually <3/year) may consist of: o Brief visit with contact person o Walk through of farm/packing operation o Review of any changes to food safety plan (ie. New
employee training, change to standard operating procedures (SOPs))
Presenter
Presentation Notes
For those of you that are new to GAPs, I’d like to briefly run through what an audit actually entails. Again, this outline is based on the USDA GAPs program requirements, however private companies may differ slightly. First of all, an audit is performed only by request. You need to initiate this process- once you’re prepared and have attempted the self audit resources I’ve mentioned and will provide links for at the end of the presentation. Audits are valid for one year, given you pass the unannounced audits throughout the year. Unannounced visits are fairly short and typically consist of a brief visit with the contact person as well as review of any changes to your food safety plan, such as training of new workers or changes to your SOP. By agreeing to participate in the GAPs audit, essentially you are agreeing to use the program on a continual and consistent basis. Unannounced visits will only confirm that you are maintaining GAPs on your farm. The cost of an audit will vary, but if you’ve completed a self-audit and have your documents organized when an auditor arrives, this will save both parties time and money. If you hand over a shoe box of scribbled documents, it will obviously take much longer.
Audit Scopes & Communication
*Key is communication between buyer and seller to understand what is expected
Audit Scopes o Part 1*: Farm Review *All audits must begin with and pass this portion o Part 2: Field Harvest and Field Packing Activities o Part 3: House Packing Facility o Part 4: Storage and Transportation o Part 5: Vacant o Part 6: Wholesale Distribution/Terminal Warehouse o Part 7: Preventative Food Defense Procedures
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As part of the audit, different scopes can be chosen. Part 1, the farm review, is what all farms must begin with and pass. This includes a series of simple questions about your farm, such as field locations and whether you have the necessary documents. Any glaring food safety hazards, such as a worker urinating in the field would be an automatic failure. At that point, the auditor will stop the audit, and request that you make the appropriate corrections and reschedule. The other audit scopes, from Part 2 on, are up to you to do. You may not have a packing facility on your farm or not be required by your buyers to have certain parts audited. This is where communication plays a big role. Let’s say you are approached by a buyer, make sure that communication is clear between what parts they want you to have. When you schedule an audit, you must be able to tell the auditor what parts you’re interested in, such as house packing facilities or transportation. This will help the auditor understand his time commitment, as well as clarify what you should be prepared for when he arrives. Tracy Vanderpool, our GAPs auditing guru, is also on the line and will be available to answer any questions you may have about participating in an audit at the end of the presentation. Mach audit: http://ncsu.edu/enterprises/ncfreshproducesafety/2010/05/11/mock-third-party-audit-for-gaps-certification/
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
Source: Beuchat, 1996
• Elements of GAPs o Worker Health & Hygiene o Irrigation Water o Manure o Sanitary Facilities o Field Sanitation o Packing Facility Sanitation o Transportation o Traceback
March 30
March 23
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Now that you have a better idea of how a basic third party audit works, we’ll jump right into the first element of GAPs; worker health and hygiene. As a reminder, additional elements of GAPs will be covered in the webinar sessions on March 23 and March 30, and we hope you’ll join us for both!
Worker Hygiene and Training
• Pathogen transfer can occur from agricultural
worker to food via several routes
Contamination
Handling
Harvesting
Packaging
Contamination
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As mentioned earlier, one source of potential contamination may come from agricultural workers. Good worker health and hygiene is critical to preventing foodborne illness. It’s so critical, that the CDC points to poor personal hygiene as being among the most common causes of foodborne illness. Maintaining good worker health and hygiene requires a sanitary facility and workers who are healthy, practice personal cleanliness, and who refrain from personal behaviors known to spread disease. Common factors involved in the spread of disease include: Sick employees, those with open cuts of scrapes, touching faces or mouths and then touching produce, not washing hands after using the restroom or not using proper restrooms at all! Whether its your family or a friend working in the field, good hygiene practices should be enforced for everyone.
Worker Hygiene and Training
Preventative Measures
1. Educate employees • Training Programs • Documentation
2. Provide appropriate facilities
• Hand washing • Toilet Facilities
3. Reinforce good hygiene practices
• Set a good personal example • Monitor use
4. Maintain and service facilities 5. Reassign sick employees
Photo credits: Cornell GAPs Food Safety Begins on the Farm Grower’s Guide
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As part of your GAPs audit, you’ll be required to show that you have worker hygiene training and other policies in place. All new employees should be trained on hand washing, restroom use, field practices, and personal hygiene. Refresher training should also be provided, even though many of these actions may seem like common sense. Afterall, we’re all human, and its easy to fall into bad habits. Along with worker training comes the maintenance and availability of appropriate facilities. By law, you are required to have appropriate facilities available to your workers. The US Department of Labor requires one restroom and hand washing facility per 20 workers and no more than a 5 minute walk from where they’ll be working. In addition, the appropriate language for signs must be prominently posted. On-farm policies should also include how often the bathroom facilities are maintained and whether they are properly stocked. In the event that a worker is sick, a policy should be in place to either reassign that employee to a task which does not involve direct contact with produce, or send him home.
Hand Washing
o Use soap and warm water. o Rub hands together to make a lather. o Vigorous friction on areas of lathered hands and
arms for at least 20 seconds. o Use a scrub brush to clean under and around
finger nails. o Rinse well under warm water. o Dry hands with a paper towel or hot air dryer.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As part of your training for employees, reviewing simple hand washing techniques should be included. This common sense habit can prevent foodborne illness outbreaks- for instance, the 2003 outbreak of Hepatitis A was traced back to an ill worker- potentially caused by not washing hands. This picture shows the most commonly missed portions while washing hands. As you can see, the back of the hand, thumb, and tips of fingers are missed quite often. Hand sanitizers are also not recommended as a replacement for hand washing. Any dirt on the hand will interfere with the effectiveness of the sanitizer- washing with soap and water is really the best method for removing harmful bacteria.
Documentation: Training
Training: Human Health & Hygiene
Documented Compliance
(Yes/No)
Comments
All employees receive basic instruction in food safety.
Supervisors are trained to be familiar with the typical signs and symptoms of infectious illnesses.
All employees receive training in good personal hygiene (including bathing, hand washing, teeth brushing, wound care, etc.).
The importance of good hygiene, and regular and thorough hand washing are stressed on a consistent basis.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
If you plan to train your employees and maintain GAPs status, documentation is necessary to ensure proper hygiene and food safety practices are being followed. The simple log shown above can be used as an example of how to structure your worker health and hygiene practices, from training to policies on the farm. The National GAPs program does outline specific items that should be included in your plan, however it should be tailored to your farm, as every farm is a different size and may have different types of workers and processes. One interesting question.…
GAPs & Impact of 2003 Hepatitis A Outbreak
The Economics of Food Safety: The Case of Green Onions and Hepatitis A Outbreaks, by Linda Calvin, Belem Avendaño, and Rita Schwentesius, VGS-305-01, USDA, Economic Research Service, December 2004, available at: www.ers.usda.gov/publications/vgs/nov04/vgs30501/
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As I mentioned earlier in the presentation, the 2003 Green Onion outbreak of Hepatitis A was one I vividly remember. I grew up 5 miles from the restaurant that the outbreak occurred at. There ended up being 650 confirmed cases as well as 4 deaths, not to mention the impact it had on the green onion industry. The total cost of this outbreak was 10.5 million to the green onion industry. Comparatively speaking, this one was small compared to the Spinach outbreak that cost the industry $175 million. I’d like to explain how this outbreak occurred and what might have prevented it. As a labor-intensive crop, green onions, like radishes and other crops that are hand bunched, involve more hand labor in the harvesting and packing process than most fruit and vegetables. Each person that handles green onions potentially increases the probability of contamination. This outbreak was traced back to the farm in Mexico where an ill field worker had harvested, bundled, and packed the green onions. The tricky thing about Hepatitis A is that you can have and spread the illness before you even begin to show signs of sickness. If the ill worker had alerted the manager if he or she was showing signs of illness or practices proper hand washing after restroom use, he or she could have been reassigned to a different task not involving direct contact with the produce. This table is from a research paper written by Linda Calvin at the USDA Economic Research Service. It describes the impact of being GAPs certified on the outbreak effects. Those with GAPs certification showed fairly constant sales. For those with no GAPs certification, there were typically no sales and fields were plowed under. In addition, the demand for other products declined, as buyers and shippers had suspicions that other foods might have been contaminated. We study case studies like these so that we can identify sources of contamination and what could have been done to prevent it. I hope that this example is useful to help drive home the point that the most mundane tasks, such as handwashing, can have a greater impact down the line.
Summary Contamination of fresh fruits and vegetables may occur via
many routes on the farm, however water, manure, and handling by employees are a significant risk factor.
GAPs are currently NOT mandatory, but may be in the future- so plan ahead!
Participating in 3rd Party Audits for food safety can help you develop and implement your food safety plan.
Training, documenting, and verifying that employees are following good hygiene practices can reduce the risk for a foodborne outbreak originating on the farm.
Resources
USDA Audit Check List http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5050869 USDA Audit Score Sheet http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5050871 National Good Agricultural Practices Network for Education and Training, Cornell University http://www.gaps.cornell.edu/ Good Agricultural Practices: A Self-Audit for Growers and Handlers, UC Davis http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/5453/4362.pdf Good Agricultural Practices, Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition: http://www.jifsan.umd.edu/training/gaps.php
Presenter
Presentation Notes
In addition to these resources, I’d like to give a bit more detail about the water testing I mentioned at the beginning of the presentation. For those who attend all 3 webinar sessions, you’ll be eligible to receive a free water testing kit from the CSU Water Lab, which is a $30 value. As part of your GAPs Audit, you’ll need to show that your water sources are safe and are not contaminated with harmful bacteria. When you return to the second and third webinar sessions, please log in with the same name that you used today so that we can keep track. At the end of March when the series is over, I’ll send out more information about the water testing kits, but basically, they’ll be mailed to the address of your choice and we’ll pay the postage to have you send them back to the CSU lab. It’s a pretty good deal if you ask me. In addition, for those of you that attend all the sessions, we’ll send you a certificate of completion of this series that you can display proudly at your farm or at the market.
Acknowledgements • Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
– Dr. Marisa Bunning, Food Safety Extension Specialist & Asst. Professor – Dr. Patricia Kendall, Extension Specialist and Professor – Mary Schroeder, Research Associate – Jessica Hedden, Ryan Friedman, Andrew Kester, Graduate students
• Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics - Martha Sullins, Coordinator, County Information Service
• College of Agricultural Sciences – Dr. Dennis Lamm, Extension Specialist and Professor
• Colorado Department of Agriculture - Tracy Vanderpool, Fruit & Vegetable Section Chief
• Colorado State Extension - Adrian Card, Boulder Extension Agent - Ruth Willson, Extension Technology
Contacts •Marisa Bunning, Ph.D. Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Food Safety 970-491-7180 [email protected] •Martha Sullins CSU Extension Coordinator, County Information Service 970-491-5706 [email protected]
•Tracy Vanderpool Fruit and Vegetable Section Chief, CO Dept. of Ag 719-852-4749 [email protected]
