Carter to spearhead food safety at CMI
Carter to spearhead food safety at CMI
Wenatchee, WA-based Columbia Marketing International has hired Bob Carter as food-safety coordinator. Mr. Carter reports to Mike Hambelton, former CMI vice president of marketing, who is now in charge of special company projects.
"The commitment to do food safety -- it's all or nothing," Mr. Carter told The Produce News in a recent interview.
Asked about the challenges of his new position with CMI, Mr. Carter said that the company is being proactive in obtaining Safe Quality Food certification for its six packingsheds. "One is SQF-certified," he said. "They want to get the other five certified. It's going to be a huge job. There are a lot of customers requiring SQF.
"The commitment stems from everyone who monitors the packinglines," he added. "Sometimes change is difficult. It starts at the top with owners and managers. They are aware of what we're trying to do."
CMI markets cherries, pears, apples and apricots. Mr. Carter said that CMI's proactive approach would facilitate future operations. "Food safety will only get more and more stringent," he said.
Last year's E. coli outbreak linked to spinach has everyone taking a closer look at food safety, he added. But, "The fresh fruit industry is not a high-risk product."
Mr. Carter said that he has already spoken with staff at the packingsheds and is already working on customized standard operating procedure manuals. Food-safety programs focus on traceback and recall, sanitation, pest control, maintenance, material safety data sheets, monitoring records, inspections and corrective actions.
"Do they have a rodent-control program? Do they have a management tree with responsibilities? You have to have [this] in writing," he said. "You say this is what you're going to do. Now, how do you do it?"
By focusing on the sheds individually, Mr. Carter said he should be able to formalize the manuals in about three months.
Once this heavy lifting has been done, Mr. Carter will set his sights on two goals in 2008. First, he is working to get all sheds SQF-certified in March. "You have a certification date followed by a surveillance period six months later," he said. By ensuring the certification and surveillance activities are performed early in the year, Mr. Carter said that sheds wouldn't be affected during tree fruit production seasons.
After the sheds are certified, Mr. Carter will turn his attention to this year's second goal: visiting the company and third-party orchards with an eye toward eventual Eurepgap certification.
Mr. Carter brings a wealth of experience to the new position. Prior to joining CMI's staff, he worked for Dovex Fruit Co., also in Wenatchee, beginning in 1998. He was the company's food-safety manager for more than two years, and also had extensive experience in quality control.
Mr. Carter began his professional career in 1975 in Virginia, where he worked as a cook. He then relocated to San Diego, CA, where he assumed his responsibilities as a kitchen manager. He worked for Mr. Steak for four years, and then ran restaurants in California and Kansas.
Mr. Carter had extensive involvement with Godfather's Pizza, serving as assistant manager, manager and district manager from 1982 to 1990. Wenatchee residents may recall Mr. Carter as the owner of the local Godfather's Pizza franchise.
"The commitment to do food safety -- it's all or nothing," Mr. Carter told The Produce News in a recent interview.
Asked about the challenges of his new position with CMI, Mr. Carter said that the company is being proactive in obtaining Safe Quality Food certification for its six packingsheds. "One is SQF-certified," he said. "They want to get the other five certified. It's going to be a huge job. There are a lot of customers requiring SQF.
"The commitment stems from everyone who monitors the packinglines," he added. "Sometimes change is difficult. It starts at the top with owners and managers. They are aware of what we're trying to do."
CMI markets cherries, pears, apples and apricots. Mr. Carter said that CMI's proactive approach would facilitate future operations. "Food safety will only get more and more stringent," he said.
Last year's E. coli outbreak linked to spinach has everyone taking a closer look at food safety, he added. But, "The fresh fruit industry is not a high-risk product."
Mr. Carter said that he has already spoken with staff at the packingsheds and is already working on customized standard operating procedure manuals. Food-safety programs focus on traceback and recall, sanitation, pest control, maintenance, material safety data sheets, monitoring records, inspections and corrective actions.
"Do they have a rodent-control program? Do they have a management tree with responsibilities? You have to have [this] in writing," he said. "You say this is what you're going to do. Now, how do you do it?"
By focusing on the sheds individually, Mr. Carter said he should be able to formalize the manuals in about three months.
Once this heavy lifting has been done, Mr. Carter will set his sights on two goals in 2008. First, he is working to get all sheds SQF-certified in March. "You have a certification date followed by a surveillance period six months later," he said. By ensuring the certification and surveillance activities are performed early in the year, Mr. Carter said that sheds wouldn't be affected during tree fruit production seasons.
After the sheds are certified, Mr. Carter will turn his attention to this year's second goal: visiting the company and third-party orchards with an eye toward eventual Eurepgap certification.
Mr. Carter brings a wealth of experience to the new position. Prior to joining CMI's staff, he worked for Dovex Fruit Co., also in Wenatchee, beginning in 1998. He was the company's food-safety manager for more than two years, and also had extensive experience in quality control.
Mr. Carter began his professional career in 1975 in Virginia, where he worked as a cook. He then relocated to San Diego, CA, where he assumed his responsibilities as a kitchen manager. He worked for Mr. Steak for four years, and then ran restaurants in California and Kansas.
Mr. Carter had extensive involvement with Godfather's Pizza, serving as assistant manager, manager and district manager from 1982 to 1990. Wenatchee residents may recall Mr. Carter as the owner of the local Godfather's Pizza franchise.
