FOOD SAFETY
By Supermarket Perimeter
Best food safety
practices
in produce KANSAS CITY - While food safety-related outbreaks continue to cause headaches for the fresh produce industry, experts are optimistic that increased awareness all along the supply chain will continue to mitigate some outbreaks and prevent others. The safety of fresh fruits and vegetables sold at grocery retail has always been a key priority for Arlington, Va.-based FMI – The Food Industry Association, said Hilary Thesmar, the group’s chief food and product safety officer and senior vice president for food safety. FMI breaks its food safety programming for produce into three categories: supply chain, store level, and consumer education.
talking to your suppliers,” she said. And as the embrace of technology expands “exponentially,” Thesmar said, blockchain and other technologies that aid in the prevention of producerelated food safety outbreaks are becoming more mainstream and accepted by retailers. That said, Thesmar stressed that blockchain is only as good as the quality of the information that’s being shared. GS1 standards are among the food safety benchmarks FMI encourages its members to adopt.
At the store level, Thesmar said the retail industry has done an excellent job of maintaining high food safety standard, whether it’s handling whole produce or preparing value-added fruit and vegetable On the supply wide, the organization is working products instore. very closely with producers of commodities that have had food safety-related outbreaks. Leafy “Knock on wood, we’ve been pretty lucky - there greens has been a major focus in recent years, but haven’t been any recent outbreaks linked to storeFMI has also worked with other associations, prepared items,” she said. “There are protocols in academics and suppliers on the safety of red on- place that are working and protecting consumers ions and papayas, among others, following recent in the process. “Because they’re so imbedded in out breaks. their communities, retailers know and care deeply While there haven’t been any major breakth about the safety of their products.” roughs on the prevention side, Thesmar has been pleased with the increased awareness industry- Some of those long-established processes include wide. More and more people all along the supply working hard to make sure work areas are sanitary chain are aware that, as recent FDA reports have and that utensils are cleaned and sanitized in confirmed, contamination of fresh produce at the between uses. grower level comes to either water or proximity of animals. On the consumer side, FMI has been working with the Partnership for Food Safety Education “We’re still trying to get that message out to the for 20 years to push science-based food safety retail industry to include food safety when you’re messages to consumers, Thesmar said. Partnerships 8
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