CTFA contemplates food safety certification program
CTFA contemplates food safety certification program
One major area on which the California Tree Fruit Agreement will focus in the coming year, according to CTFA President Sheri Mierau, is food safety and the possibility of establishing an industry food-safety certification program.
Ms. Mierau, who was promoted to president effective Jan. 1, succeeding Blair Richardson, was previously vice president of marketing.
Recent news reports of problems with food-borne illness have highlighted the need for growers, packers and shippers in all commodities to be sure that the food-safety programs they have in place are adequate.
"Our industry has an advantage in that food safety issues have not yet affected us directly," Ms. Mierau said in remarks made at a CTFA annual dinner in December. "We have the opportunity, as an industry, to research and create our own certification process. By stepping out in front of the issue, we can design a process internally, built on a deep understanding of our industry's practices and constraints, and not mandated by the FDA or other agency.
"If we are not proactive and simply allow regulations to be created by another group, we may face changes under which our industry cannot survive," she added.
"A project like this will likely take three to five years to fully develop," Ms. Mierau said, but it also "bears the possibility of other benefits. A new certification has the potential to be used as a marketing tool to differentiate ourselves from all other growing regions. It allows us to create powerful messages for consumers, retailers and foodservice operators, giving them confidence in California fruits, as assurances of food safety become a larger issue."
Although the industry is contemplating such a certification program, it has not yet made the decision to go forward with it or the final determination that it is necessary.
What CTFA has done to this point is to form an ad hoc food safety committee "to identify if there are any needs or directions that the industry needs to take," Ms. Mierau told The Produce News Jan. 8.
"The industry knows that they need to focus on safety," she said, "and they are putting together an ad hoc committee representing the tree fruit quality subcommittee, the research subcommittee and the marketing committee" to look into the issue.
"As far as our growers are concerned, most of them already have HACCP and GAP and Primus-type of programs in their facilities," she said.
In addition, "we do have research that came out five years ago" on food safety from University of California plant pathologist Trevor Suslow.
One thing that the ad hoc food safety committee will be doing, Ms. Mierau said, is to look at that research and identify "if there is any additional research that needs to be done."
Ms. Mierau, who was promoted to president effective Jan. 1, succeeding Blair Richardson, was previously vice president of marketing.
Recent news reports of problems with food-borne illness have highlighted the need for growers, packers and shippers in all commodities to be sure that the food-safety programs they have in place are adequate.
"Our industry has an advantage in that food safety issues have not yet affected us directly," Ms. Mierau said in remarks made at a CTFA annual dinner in December. "We have the opportunity, as an industry, to research and create our own certification process. By stepping out in front of the issue, we can design a process internally, built on a deep understanding of our industry's practices and constraints, and not mandated by the FDA or other agency.
"If we are not proactive and simply allow regulations to be created by another group, we may face changes under which our industry cannot survive," she added.
"A project like this will likely take three to five years to fully develop," Ms. Mierau said, but it also "bears the possibility of other benefits. A new certification has the potential to be used as a marketing tool to differentiate ourselves from all other growing regions. It allows us to create powerful messages for consumers, retailers and foodservice operators, giving them confidence in California fruits, as assurances of food safety become a larger issue."
Although the industry is contemplating such a certification program, it has not yet made the decision to go forward with it or the final determination that it is necessary.
What CTFA has done to this point is to form an ad hoc food safety committee "to identify if there are any needs or directions that the industry needs to take," Ms. Mierau told The Produce News Jan. 8.
"The industry knows that they need to focus on safety," she said, "and they are putting together an ad hoc committee representing the tree fruit quality subcommittee, the research subcommittee and the marketing committee" to look into the issue.
"As far as our growers are concerned, most of them already have HACCP and GAP and Primus-type of programs in their facilities," she said.
In addition, "we do have research that came out five years ago" on food safety from University of California plant pathologist Trevor Suslow.
One thing that the ad hoc food safety committee will be doing, Ms. Mierau said, is to look at that research and identify "if there is any additional research that needs to be done."
