Western Growers has launched an interactive website that allows the public to participate in discussions relating to leafy greens food safety, while allowing the industry to follow the process to strengthen those guidelines.
The site, www.leafygreenguidance.com, will track changes to the Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Production and Harvest of Lettuce and Leafy Greens adopted by the California/Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements.
Those Leafy Greens Guidelines have been updated many times since the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements formed, including recent changes to agriculture water use and buffer zones, in the wake of E. coli outbreaks traced to romaine and leafy greens.
The new site aims to simplify the guidelines amendment process, and will have:
- A Master Calendar that outlines comment periods and deadlines for the amendment process, for issues ranging from agricultural water, soil and concentrated animal feeding operations;
- An LGMA Final Document, final versions of the Leafy Greens Guidelines; and
- A Leafy Green Info Sheet explaining how the amendment process works and the importance to update with new research and information.
“As an industry leader in produce safety, Western Growers remains committed to driving the evolution of guidance for preventive food safety programs in leafy greens as well as other commodities,” Sonia Salas, assistant vice president of food safety, science, technology for Western Growers. “In a time where COVID-19 is top of mind for all industries, Western Growers is committed to ensuring that the important work of improving food safety continues with broad agricultural industry engagement and complete transparency among leafy green growers.”
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