California citrus industry gives $500K for produce safety research

The California citrus industry has stepped up in a big way to fund produce safety research.

Growers from across the state are making a collective $500,000 contribution to the Woodland, Calif.-based Center for Produce Safety’s research capital campaign to fund produce-specific food safety research, according to a news release.

The center will use the funds to identify produce safety concerns, work with researchers to address those issues and then communicate research findings to industry and other parties, according to the release.

In making its donation to CPS, Valencia, Calif.-based Sunkist Growers’ Jim Phillips, CEO, said in the release that the company’s contribution reflects Sunkist’s industry leadership.

“As the longest-standing agricultural cooperative in the nation, it’s important to us that we are always delivering a safe product to consumers,” Phillips said in the release. “Sunkist is doing our part to represent California citrus at the highest level by supporting critical food safety research.”

Zak Laffite, president of Delano, Calif.-based Wonderful Citrus, known for products such as Wonderful Halos mandarins, said in the release that the industry commitment to consumer health and well-being motivated the contribution to CPS. 

“Our company promise is simple: To provide the safest, freshest-quality citrus, today and tomorrow. Ensuring that we lead on food safety practices is one way we make food safety paramount,” Laffite said in the release. “Similarly, as an industry, investing in Center for Produce Safety is an industrywide food safety best practice.”

Founded in 2007, CPS has invested $22 million to date in 187 produce-centric food safety research projects at 44 research institutions in the U.S. and four other countries, according to the release.

The center’s research has helped inform buyers’ food safety demands and audit expectations, Al Bates, president of  Pasadena, Calif.-based Sun Pacific, known for fruit products such as Cuties mandarins, said in the release.

“Food safety is a fundamental part of our business. Sun Pacific has incorporated it into all farming, harvesting and packing operations,” Bates said in the release. “Center for Produce Safety has been instrumental in researching and communicating various issues to the food safety auditing community that (have) allowed produce operations like ours to continue to operate efficiently and effectively, while also complying with current food safety guidelines.”

Center for Produce Safety launched its latest research fundraising campaign publicly in January 2021, after a “quiet” phase in 2020, according to the release.

Bates called on leaders across the fresh produce supply chain to contribute to CPS’s research capital campaign.

“I encourage all suppliers, industry groups and retailers to support CPS so the produce community can strive to deliver the safest food supply in the world to our consumers,” Bates said in the release.

A current list of CPS contributors can be viewed online.