Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)

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Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)

• Professor Yanyun Zhao
• Professor Mark Daeschel

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GAPs Why Now?

• Increased number of produce associated foodborne
  disease outbreaks in the U.S. CDC estimation
• Consumption of fresh and minimally processed
  produce steadily increasing.
• The Consumers
• The Micro World
• Global food supply
• Media

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Approaches to Food Safety

• Become proactiveanticipate challenges
• Make communication a priority
• Everyonefrom farm to tableneeds to take
  responsibility for food safety. We need to talk
  with each other and work together to improve the
  safety of our food supply
• We need to inform and educate the industry and
  the public about public policy issues and risk
  analysis

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Guidelines to Minimize Microbial Food Safety
Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

• FDA, USDA
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Oct. 26, 1998
• http//www.foodsafety.gov/dms/prodguid.html

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Good Agricultural PracticesFocus on Prevention
and Redundant Reductions

• Not a regulation - guidelines only
• Has become the de facto standard
• Buyers have become enforcement branch
• Science is trying to catch up

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Key Elements of Good Agricultural Practices

1. Water Quality
2. Manure and Municipal Biosolids
3. Worker Health and Hygiene
4. Sanitary Facilities
5. Field/Packing Facility Sanitation
6. Transportation/Distribution
7. Traceback

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USDA AMSFresh Produce Audit Verification Program

• Third party audit based on the FDA Guide
• Requires a written food safety program
• Documentation in critical areas
• Corrective actions specified in advance

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Current Activities

• In Fall 2006, several major retail chain sent a
  letter to the major trade organizations demanding
  grower adhere to GAP principles.
• Jan. 2007 GAP is on agenda of the Fruit and
  Vegetable Advisory Committee, which recommends
  action item to the Secretary of Agriculture.
• Jan. 2007 Letter from AFDO (The Association of
  Food and Drug Officials) recommending partnership
  with AMS.

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Current Activities

• Review of current audit check-list for GAP/GHP
• AFVISA (Association of Fruit and Vegetable
  Inspection and Standardization Agencies)
• Industry
• National GAP program
• USDA Agriculture Research Service Food Safety
  program

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Current Activities

• Working with Processed Products Branch Qualified
  through Verification (QTV) program
• Tiered GAP program multi audits levels
• Outreach activities
• Potential National Marketing Order for GAPs
• Auditor training
• Food Chain

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-Food Safety Systems-How does EUREPGAP compare
to U.S.GAPs?
Common
EUREPGAP only

• Field History
• Water
• Manure
• Worker Health and Hygiene
• Sanitary Facilities
• Packing Sanitation
• Transportation
• Traceback

• Variety and Rootstock
• Soil Management
• Worker Welfare
• Crop Protection
• GMO issues
• Recycling and Reuse
• Environmental Issues
• Land stewardship

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Guiding Principles of Food Safety for Edible
Horticultural Crops

• Once contaminated, removing or killing
• pathogens on produce is difficult.

• Prevention of microbial contamination at
• all steps from production to distribution
• is strongly favored over treatments to
• eliminate contamination that may have
• occurred.

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Guiding Principles of Food Safety for Edible
Horticultural Crops

• Documentation of prevention programs,
• sanitation protocols, and personal hygiene
• training are key signatures of a credible
• food safety program.

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Where Do I Start?
On-Farm Hazard and Control Point Analysis
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Step 1 Build a Foundation of Prerequisite Food
Safety and Good Agricultural Practices

• Prior field history
• Sanitation programs
• Pest control programs
• Wildlife management
• Personal hygiene training
• Safety training
• Organized documentation
• and more...

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Step 1 Build a Foundation of Prerequisite Food
Safety and Good Agricultural Practices

• Prior field history
• Sanitation programs
• Pest control programs
• Wildlife management
• Personal hygiene training
• Safety training
• Organized documentation
• and more...

Record It or Regret It !
If you didnt write it down, It didnt happen!!
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Implementing GAPs Step 2 Construct a Self-Audit
of Potential Hazards

• Site selection
• Animal influences
• Fertility inputs
• Water inputs
• Irrigation
• Foliar sprays
• Harvest
• Human influences
• Postharvest
• Sanitation

Record Keeping is Essential !
Oso Ranch1 Block 2 Baby Spinach
Land Prep
Pest Control
Irrigation
Packing
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Be sure to think about the following when
developing a GAP program for your production

• Water safety
• Safe use of manure and biosolids
• Worker health and hygiene
• Sanitation in the field, packing area, and PYO
  operations
• Temperature control
• Traceback

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Water Safety Issues on the Farm from Field to
Packing House

• On the farm, water is used for irrigation,
  applying pesticides and fertilizers, cooling
  and/or frost control.
• In packing operations, water is used to cool and
  wash produce, to clean and sanitize, and to wash
  hands.
• If the water is contaminated with pathogens,
  produce may be contaminated.

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Irrigation Water May Be A Source of Microbial
Contamination
CFU/ 100ml
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Evaluate Your Water Supply

• Source of water
• Irrigation use
• Foliar application
• Harvest use
• Postharvest use

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Water Safety What can you do

• Know that risks associated with your water
  sources (municipal, surface, well)
• Test your water as appropriate and keep test
  records
• Understand and pay attention to backflow
  prevention
• Use potable (drinkable) water for handwashing
• Cleaning and sanitation water use in the packing
  house

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Safety Use Of Manure And Biosolids On The Farm

• Livestock manure can be a valuable source of
  nutrients, but is can also be a source of human
  pathogens if not managed correctly
• Some pathogens, such as L. monocytogenes and E.
  coli sp., may survive and grow in the soil.

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Manure/biosolids on the farm What can you do?

• Properly and thoroughly compost manure
• If manure is not composted, age manure to be
  applied to produce fields for at least 6 months
  prior to application
• Plan before planting
• Time manure application correctly
• Incorporate manure into soil prior to planting

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Worker Health and Hygiene on the farm and in the
packing house

• Humans and animals are the primary source of
  direct or indirect transmission of disease
  causing in the food supply
• Harvesting/packing is often a labor intensive
  operation with direct human contact with fresh
  produce (whether done by pickers or PYO patrons)
• Infected employees could increase the risk of
  transmitting foodborne illness

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Worker Health and HygieneWhat can you do?

• Have worker health and hygiene policies in place,
  including sick polices for worker attire
• Look for signs of illness, wounds or cuts
• Make handwashing and toilet facilities easily
  accessible
• Emphasize worker hygiene training

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Worker Health and HygieneWhat can you do?

• Limit bare hand contact and encourage use of
  gloves where applicable
• Provide PYO customers with well-maintained and
  serviced toilet and handwashing facilities
• Post signs to encourage PYO customers to wash
  their hands before picking produce

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Sanitation in the field, packing area and PYO

• Soil, fertilizer, water, workers, pets, pests,
  and harvesting equipment can all be sources of
  pathogenic microorganisms and can contaminate
  produce
• Dirty storage areas can contaminate produce and
  shorten post-harvest shelf-life
• Pathogenic microorganisms may be found on the
  floors and in the drains in the packing facility
  and on the surfaces of sorting, grading and
  packing equipment

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• Processing water that is reused may result in
  build up of microbial loads and result in
  contamination
• During transportation, produce may become
  contaminated during loading, unloading and
  storage
• Good sanitation standard operating procedures
  can reduce the risk of microbial contamination

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Sanitation What can you do

• Emphasize worker and PYO customer hygiene and
  training
• Maintain and clean harvesting equipment
• Keep animals out of field
• Remove as much dirt and mud as practical from the
  produce before it leaves the field
• Clean and sanitize packing area, floors, and
  lines daily

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Sanitation What can you do

• Minimize risks from processing water
• Use approved sanitizer
• Have a pest control program in place
• Do not wear field clothes (shoes and boots) into
  the packing area
• Ensure that transportation vehicles are clean

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Temperature control during harvest, packing, and
storage

• Good temperature control maintains produce
  quality and minimize pathogen growth
• Temperature is important when
• Cooling produce
• Washing produce
• Packing produce
• During cold storage
• Transportation produce
• At the point of sale

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Temperature controlWhat can you do?

• Cool produce quickly
• Use ice made from potable water
• Avoid cooling water bath temperature that are
  gt10F cooler than produce pulp temperature
• Monitor water temperature
• Dont overload cooling capacity in storage
• Monitor cooler and produce temperatures
• Use and monitor transport truck temperature

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Traceback Finding the Source

• Traceback is the ability to identify the source
  of a productimportant if a foodborne disease
  outbreak occurs and you need to find out where
  the food came from
• A good traceback system can
• Protect you from false association with an
  outbreak
• Minimize consumer anxiety and bad publicity
• Give you a competitive advantage

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Traceback What can you do?

• At the minimum, you should identify your product
  with
• Date of harvest and/or date of packing
• Farm identification
• Document your handling chain from the farm to
  your distributor/customer
• Document all aspects of your packinghouse
  operations
• Get help from industry trade groups for
  information on coding, labeling and tools
  available to make the job easier

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Summary Food Safety for the ProducerGood
Agricultural Practices

• Water and Water Quality
• Manure and Biosolids Management
• Worker Health and Hygiene
• Sanitation in field, packing area and PYO
  operations Facilities
• Transportation Temperature Control
• Traceback Records

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Keep it Safe!