July/August 2023 - 22

CPS WWW.CENTERFORPRODUCESAFETY.ORG
The path to understanding pathogens
HOW TO KEEP PRODUCE SAFE FROM SALMONELLA, OTHER HAZARDS
Trevor Suslow, an
Extension research
specia l is t
at
t he
By Trevor Suslow
Extension research
specialist, UC Davis
University of California,
Davis, is a key figure
in fresh produce food
safety, helping to define
industry standards
during his decades-long
career. As he moves to
emeritus status with
UC Davis, he talked
to the Center for Produce Safety about
produce safety's evolution and evaluating
related research.
You've said you were pushed into
produce safety. Why?
Trevor Suslow (TS): I worked for an
ag biotech company after getting my
Ph.D. in 1980. When we started rolling
out products, buyers handed us their
food safety specifications. Because I
knew so many -ologies - agronomy,
plant pathology, microbiology, etc. -
management decided I was our food
safety guy.
When I moved to Extension and
research at UC Davis in 1995, I told
them if they hired me I would make
food safety part of my program.
thought it would be a small part;
I
it
dominated what I did for the next 28
years, there and at Produce Marketing
Association (now International Fresh
Produce Association). So I say I walked
through the food safety door and they
locked it behind me.
What does produce safety look like
to you?
TS: It's being as broad and inclusive as
you can, doing the best you can, to ensure
the safety of the food you're shipping
to consumers. It's understanding the
hazards, characterizing the risks that
are specific to you and drawing on
available knowledge even if it's not from
your region, your commodity or your
22 JULY/AUGUST 2 0 2 3
business model. It's about the details,
and the details of the details, integrated
across the spectrum from production to
harvest, packaging, processing, shipping,
to retail.
The basic principles haven't changed
since we drafted the first industry-led
Guide to Good Agricultural Practices for
Produce Safety in 1995. But awareness
and options to mitigate, control or avoid
risks have evolved tremendously.
What makes for good research?
TS: I think successful research doesn't
just say " Look how bad this is " but rather,
" Here's the situation, and this is the
science on best management to deal
with it, and the best way to figure out
if that's going to work for you or needs
a few tweaks. "
Overall, research that comes out of
Center for Produce Safety has great
directional value in showing what you
should be doing, or what you should
stop doing. CPS played a tremendous
role at a critical time after the 2006
E. coli/spinach foodborne illness outbreak
to consolidate industry and to bring
government, public health agencies,
academia and industry together to shape
a different type of research mission -
one that emphasized problem-solving,
solution-driven, applied-answer research
across the supply chain.
Your research has been funded by
CPS. What advice do you have about
looking at research results?
TS: Get in there and think like the
pathogens. Look beyond the superficial
stereotypes about their behavior. Learn
how they adapt, how they survive and
what makes them die.
The last couple of years, the research has
been dominated by listeria, viruses and
cyclospora - but don't forget salmonella.
There are 2,500-plus known types. It
is probably the best of all pathogens at
surviving and growing under stress - in
the environment, on fresh produce and in
http://www.centerforproducesafety.org
July/August 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July/August 2023
