How well prepared is the fresh produce industry for a food safety scare? PMA Student Report 2012 Samantha Cables University of Tasmania
Executive Summary Food safety is an important aspect in the fresh produce industry around the world, as the aim is to provide consumers with products that are healthy and safe for consumption. Australia and New Zealand have government agencies that focus on food safety practices and codes to reduce the risk of safety breaches. These agencies are important to investigate any food safety incidents and convey information regarding any recalls to consumers, as well as inform consumers on how they can do their part in maintaining food safety in the home. Traceability of product from production to plate is growing in demand and adoption throughout the supply chain will aid in food safety breach situations. It is important to continually look at new was to maintain food safety that is efficient and costeffective. The consequences of producing food to consumers that is unsafe can not only be harmful to the health of humans it can also have devastating effects on the entire fresh produce industry. Table of Contents Executive Summary... 2 How well prepared is the fresh produce industry for a food safety scare?... 3 Supply Chain... 5 Actions/Recommendations... 8 Conclusion... 8 References:... 9
How well prepared is the fresh produce industry for a food safety scare? Food safety is of major importance in the fresh food industry, with food safety incidents having the ability to devastate industries. Outbreaks of foodborne diseases have previously caused illness and in serious cases, deaths have occurred. Not only does this cause high levels of distress throughout communities it abolishes people s trust in that particular food source. An issue surrounding foodborne diseases is the difficulty to determine the origin of the disease as many pathogens can be found on a large range of hosts. On top of that symptoms may present in a range of time frames from hours, days or even weeks after consumption, again making it difficult to determine the source of the disease (NSW Food Authority 2012). Procedures need to be put in place throughout every aspect of the supply chain to ensure that human consumption of fresh produce is safe. An example of a food safety incident that was a result of sanitisation not being adequate at the processing stage is the rockmelon case in the United States. It involved Listeria monocytogenes and caused widespread illness throughout 19 states with 146 cases reported with 30 deaths(shadbolt 2012).The cases were identified by molecular stereotyping and due to the traceability in the US, the source was found to be from Jensen s Farm located in Colorado. Following the discovery that rockmelons were the host there was a National recall of all Jensen rockmelons and the industry collapsed within days due to consumer concern. After further investigation it was discovered that Jensen s farm did not have adequate sanitisation practices at the packing stage, (Shadbolt 2012). The Jensen s went bankrupt after thediscovery, which highlights how essential sanitation of fresh produce can be. The Listeria monocytogenes microorganism can be found on many types of fresh produce, with higher risks surrounding produce refrigerated for long periods of time. It is therefore important to prevent contamination in all areas of production, with greater emphasis surrounding processing, during packaging and at every stage where food is handled and stored (FSANZ 2012). Symptoms of
the disease can be produced between three days and ten weeks after consumption, due to this large time frame it makes it difficult to determine the correct origin (Shadbolt 2012). In 2010, Australia was exposed to it s own Listeria incident, with nine cases discovered in multiple states on the mainland over a five month period. Many food products were tested and as a result of it being a different strain it took longer to determine which product was actually the cause. With greater traceability within products produced in Australia, the duration that it takes to discover the host product could be greatly reduced. Australia has state and national plans as well as food incident response protocols in place to response to food safety breaches. At the start of a food safety incident an epidemiology investigation takes place to try to discover the origin of the outbreak (Hill 2012). It is important to alert the public as soon as possible of any disease outbreak to recall any product that is in question, however it is important to have all of the facts first (Hill, 2012). If the wrong product is incorrectly blamed for a foodborne disease outbreak it can have damaging results for that particular industry. An example of an incident that was in the global news that was originally incorrectly determined was the E. coli outbreak in Germany last year. The authorities came out and stated that they believed it was a result of Spanish cucumbers, however two weeks later they confirmed that it was in fact a result of sprouts, with seed that had originated from Egypt. Over the two-week period Spanish cucumbers had a massive drop in sales and were not able to completely recover even after the sprouts were determined as the correct source. Throughout the disease outbreak over 3000 people were ill with 53 deaths, over this period 76% of consumers stopped purchasing raw vegetables, with only 20% of those resuming after sprouts were confirmed (Hill 2012). Consumer confidence was down and even though only one product was the problem the entire fresh produce industry was negatively impacted. It is important to have legislations in place to ensure standards are maintained to reduce the risk of foodborne disease outbreaks. Governing bodies have put in place legislations with aims that focus on improving food safety and to increase
consumer confidence in the food they are consuming (Opara 2002). Food Safety Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) and OzFoodNet are both government agencies that focus on food standards and help manage food safety risks. OzFoodNet was established in 2000 to help provide understanding into foodborne disease cases and the causes behind them, this work has help produce policies surrounding food safety (OzFoodNet 2010). They completes research to enhance Australia s response to crisis caused by foodborne disease and increases the ability to detect the origin food to which the disease originated. FSANZ is responsible for developing and maintaining food standard codes with aims around having consumers supplied with safe food that supports the health of people in both Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ 2012) FSANZ also communicates fact sheets that inform consumers of ways they can prepare food that ensures safe consumption. Supply Chain It is essential to integrate food safety procedures into every aspect of the supply chain. Globalisation of the food supply chain and the illnesses and deaths resulting from the microbial contamination of food has increased concerns from consumers which has resulted in a growing demand for transparency in the way food is grown in moved through the supply chain (Opara & Mazaud 2001).There has been a greater importance placed on the integration of traceability into the supply chain in regards to strategies in risk management of a food disease outbreak. Traceability is about the collection, documentation, maintenance and application of information at every stage of the supply chain to help assist in crisis management in the event of a safety breach (Opara & Mazaud 2001). Technology required for traceability is continually improving with investment in training and education essential (Opara 2002). However implementation throughout the entire supply chain can be costly. For smaller farmers, the economic cost of implementing new technology for traceability may prove to be financially challenging (Opara & Mazaud 2001).
The producer is the start of the supply chain and is the start of where the responsibility of food safety needs to start. It is important to maintain a high level of hygiene in all practices conducted on farm, these practices may include the use of correct sanitisation techniques, always using clean water as well as washing vehicles and machinery when moving around multiple farms. There are standards that producers need to comply with to ensure they are providing safe food products. Currently quality assurance is essential to provide produce to supermarkets and wholesalers (Shadbolt 2012). Within this an MRL (maximum residue levels) sample is required to ensure that chemical residues are at an acceptable level for consumption. However microbiological testing is not currently required to supply produce, however such testing is gaining greater attractiveness as food safety scares become more prevalent. Sanitation and hygiene are aspects that processors/packers can focus on undertaking correctly to ensure food safety. Having procedures that employees are required to wash hands prior to handling product and that machinery needs to be correctly sanitised are important actions to combat food safety. Different methods of sanitation are required for different food types and it is important to understand what is required for what food type. Throughout the wholesaler and retail it is also essential that hygiene is maintain and that produce is kept at temperatures to reduce the risk of microbial growth. There are risks if food safety is not a priority at every stage in the supply chain, at the extreme end Jensen farm went bankrupt due to not having adequately safe practices (Shadbolt 2012). Credibility of all members of the supply chain is put under massive pressure if an outbreak has occurred, and it is very unlikely that all will be able to recover after consumer confidence has dropped as a result of a food safety scare. It is important for attitudes towards food safety to change and be something that everyone takes responsibility for and not just be something that needs to be done to pass audits. Future policies need to incorporate traceability into food safety regulations and trade agreements to improve the crisis management of food borne diseases (Opara & Mazaud 2001).
Having the ability to trace back to the farm gate will allow a quicker response and recall of a product from a specific region and not total recalls of a particular food type. The technology is out there that can show exactly where every piece of individual fruit and vegetable has been at any stage of the supply chain, however Australia is lagging behind in the adoption phase (Walmsley 2012). Continual improvements and the ultilisation of the latest technologic are vital to moving forward in the fresh produce industry. The GSI DataBar is one of the latest technologies in barcoding, it is smaller than normal barcodes and essentially has a double bar that can provide much more information than the normal barcodes you see on packaging currently. The objective to having a smaller barcode is to allow every individual piece of product being able to be labeled. With a quick scan it will be able to provide information regarding the weight, expiration date, batch and serial numbers (Steel 2012). This is a big advancement in the traceability of products from farm to retail and it is allows for improved crisis management if there is a breach in food safety, as recalls can be made for more specific produce a lot more efficiently (Walmsley 2012). The GS1 DataBar is smaller and can therefore be used on individual pieces of fruit, while providing more information than standard barcodes. (Steele 2012)
Actions/Recommendations - Don t wait for Government legislations to enforce food safety practice, every industry should be making sure that they are using the most hygienic practices and using adequate sanitation methods. - Increase education, as there is a lack of awareness of microbial food safety issues. - Emphasise the importance of sanitation and using clean water. - Focus education around placing high importance on food safety practices in all aspects from production to plate. - Increase crisis management training for future outbreaks. - Traceability is the biggest factor in the delay of determining the source in disease outbreaks, emphasis the importance of having documented information regarding produce at every stage of supply chain. - Try and improve the adoption of newer traceability technology through workshops and training. - Try and increase the education around microbial testing throughout the supply process. - Greater legislation into sanitisation and hygienic practices Conclusion Australia and New Zealand need to continue to place importance around food safety practices throughout the supply chain. There is a need to move forward into newer technologies and the adoption of traceability techniques. It would be positive to move towards barcoding individual fruit and containers that can be easily scanned and have the ability to relay information about product origin and location at every step of the supply process. This would aid in food safety risk management and allow recalling of unsafe product more efficient. Both countries need to continually improve education of food safety and look at more efficient ways to ensure food safety is maintained. The fresh produce industry relies on providing healthy products that satisfy the consumer needs and therefore food safety needs to be a focus throughout all aspects of the supply chain.
References: FSANZ, 2012, About FSANZ, Food Safety Australia and New Zealand, viewed 20 July 2012, <http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/scienceandeducation/aboutfsanz/> Hill, A 2012, Are Australia and New Zealand ready for a major food safety scare?,pma-anz Fresh Connections Conference, June 2012, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center, Melbourne. NSW Food Authority, 2012, Food Poisoning, NSW Food Authority, viewed 18July 2012, <http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/problems-withfood/food-poisoning/> Opara, L & Mazaud, F 2001, Food traceability from field to plate, Outlook on Agriculture, vol. 30, no. 4, pp.239-247. Opara, L 2002 Engineering and Technological Outlook on Traceability of Agricultural Production and Products, Agricultural Engineering International: the CIGR Journal of Scientific Research and Development, vol. 4 OzFoodNet 2010, Enhancing surveillance for foodborne disease in Australia, OzFoodNet, Australian Government, viewed 20 July 2012, <http://www.ozfoodnet.gov.au/internet/ozfoodnet/publishing.nsf/content/wh at-is-ozfoodnet-1> Shadbolt, C 2012, Are Australia and New Zealand ready for a major food safety scare?,pma-anz Fresh Connections Conference, June 2012, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center, Melbourne. Steele, A 2012, The latest technology for effective traceability, PMA-ANZ Fresh Connections Conference, June 2012, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center, Melbourne. Walmsley, A 2012, Fruit and Veg traceability queried, The Land, 11 July, viewed 20 July 2012, <http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/state/horticulture/general/fruit-andveg-traceability-queried/2613157.aspx?storypage=0>