A food safety program isn’t something that is simply plugged in and forgotten. Protocols are constantly updated at companies that prioritize food safety as technology advances and new areas of research are discovered.
Lancaster, Pa.-based Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories Inc., for example, has learned that the food industry increasingly is focusing on proactive risk assessment and risk management, said Scott Moosekian, product marketing manager.
“Rather than wait for a pathogen to be detected, companies are doing more indicator testing to obtain more data and ultimately understand more about the processing/field environment,” he said.
This allows growers and processors to learn more about whether the conditions exist in their environment that would be favorable for pathogens to be introduced and grow, and to proactively monitor and correct them before there is a problem.
The primary food safety-related mission of Eurofins is to provide timely and accurate test results for pathogens and contaminants using the best scientific testing methods available, Moosekian said.
“We understand that the food industry and the people that eat in the U.S. and abroad demand a fast turnaround of information about their food without sacrificing quality or the details,” he said.
Everything Eurofins does keeps this concept in mind, Moosekian said, from where laboratories are located to the use of electronic data management and delivery systems.
Eurofins recently opened four produce labs in California’s Salinas Valley and Yuma, Ariz., to be closer to where the industry is producing and where testing needs to be performed, said Rafael Davila, Eurofins business unit manager for produce.
Eurofins also has developed a molecular Enteric Pathogen Risk Indicator test designed to detect genetic targets that can be found in Salmonella and E. coli and provide rapid results to the producer that indicate increased risk for the presence of pathogens, said Christopher Crowe, senior director of science.
Watsonville, Calif.-based Procurant USA LLC provides a software platform for retail grocers and their perishable goods suppliers to collaborate, transact business and manage food safety across the supply chain, said Kevin Brooks, chief revenue officer.
“Our software is used by mainstream grocers, such as Albertsons Cos., to purchase and track all produce and floral items,” he said. “And our food safety and produce inspection solutions are used by retailers and foodservice organizations at distribution centers and across thousands of retail and institutional foodservice locations.”
The company’s solutions that help customers stay compliant with food safety regulations and standards across the supply chain have become even more important in view of Food Safety Modernization Act Rule 204 requirements that have caused retailers and produce suppliers to more closely scrutinize their operations to ensure they are compliant, Brooks said.
“In particular, there is increased attention being paid to having a consistent and traceable record of produce from when it leaves a supplier’s facility to when it passes through a distribution center and is received by a store,” he said.
Procurant’s applications collect data and initiate tasks in locations ranging from front-line food preparation in areas such as deli counters and foodservice operations to produce inspections at distribution centers, he said.
Food safety also is top of mind at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, which has launched a number of food safety initiatives that have proven successful in recent years, said Joe Atchison III, marketing and development division director.
In 2023, NJDA food safety inspection staff has performed approximately 4,000 fruit and vegetable inspections, and the ag department has conducted 400 Produce Safety Rule inspections on New Jersey farms since the implementation of those inspections in 2019, Atchison said.
NJDA, in coordination with Rutgers University Cooperative Extension, has held 28 Produce Rule Grower Training classes that have had more than 800 attendees.
“New Jersey is proud to be a leader in the nation in food safety inspections,” Atchison said. “Food safety has been a top priority for New Jersey farmers, and we will continue to make the role we play in this program an essential part of our duties at the NJDA.”
NJDA agricultural products agents stay in touch with growers and keep abreast of produce and marketing trends by attending grower and industry events, such as the annual State Agricultural Convention, Jersey Fresh promotions, grower association meetings, farmers markets and fairs, he said.
Jersey Fresh is a quality-grading and promotion program that is popular with many wholesale growers as well as retail growers who sell their produce at farmers markets, Atchison said.
“The Jersey Fresh logo ensures that the produce has been grown with the high standards New Jersey consumers have come to expect,” he said.
Jersey Fresh has held many promotions featuring locally grown produce and distributing fresh produce and items with the Jersey Fresh logo.
NJDA also has created a Produce Safety Task Force, composed of government, academic and procedure-sector representatives to ensure that the risk of produce-related foodborne illnesses is minimized to the greatest extent possible, Atchison added.
The Folsom, Calif.-based U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council has turned to the former chief food safety and regulatory officer for the International Fresh Produce Association to develop a food safety platform as part of its Berry Smart program.
In a recent “Business of Blueberries” podcast, Kasey Cronquist, president of the blueberry council, and Amanda Griffin, vice president of industry engagement and education, talked with Jennifer McEntire, who left IFPA after seven years to start her own food safety consulting firm — Frederick, Md.-based Food Safety Strategy LLC.
McEntire is in the process of developing a platform for USHBC that will create and provide food safety resources for growers, marketers and “across the entire usage span” for blueberries, she said in the podcast.
McEntire commended the blueberry council for its proactive focus on safety.
It’s not uncommon for companies or industries to be reactive and implement needed protocols after some type of food safety issue already has arisen, she said.
“To do that beforehand to try to keep the industry protected is absolutely the right way to go,” McEntire said.
To date, there is not a lot of food safety-related information that is blueberry specific, she said. “There’s a little bit here and there, but blueberries have not been the major focus of most food safety research and most food safety regulation.”
McEntire said she plans to start off by checking out work other people have done and working with industry members who already have food safety programs in place to see what the blueberry council can learn from and apply.
Eventually, she said she expects USHBC to consider whether it’s appropriate for the organization to develop protocols where there may be food safety gaps in the growing, harvesting or processing of blueberries.
Strides in food safety
Experts say food safety practices have improved significantly in recent years.
“With each highly publicized food safety incident … there have been subsequent improvements in the way food is tracked and traced,” Procurant’s Brooks said.
Also, with more commerce being conducted over digital networks, data has become accessible more quickly, and there is more visibility into all the operational aspects of the food supply chain, he said.
“Increased consumer attention to where their food comes from and how it is produced and packaged gives rise to greater accountability and higher value placed on food that is likely to be safer,” Brooks said.
Food safety professionals have learned and adapted their processes following various foodborne illness outbreaks, said Moosekian of Eurofins.
“Regulations and testing standards have certainly helped to improve food safety by preemptively finding bacterial hazards in foods before they reach the market,” he said.
“Science and technology are also constantly advancing in our favor to better detect bacterial risks that we might not have been able to find in the past or were not able to find as quickly as the market demanded.”
