Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020 - 30

and the caramel, which could have provided a more favorable
environment for L. monocytogenes growth and survival than
either apple or caramel alone. The outbreak greatly impacted
the industry, resulting in 35 illnesses across 12 states and
seven deaths (4, 22).
Approximately 131 produce-related reported outbreaks
associated with about 20 different fresh produce commodities occurred from 1996 to 2010, which resulted in 14,350
illnesses, 1,382 hospitalizations and 34 deaths (22). The Food
Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law in 2011,
is a food safety law that employs science- and risk-based preventive measures from farm to table (23); it has been referred
to as "the most sweeping change in food safety in the past 70
years" (18). In less than a year following the 2014 Listeria
outbreak, two specific rules that affect apple-packing facilities
were published: (1) Standards for the Growing, Harvesting,
Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption
(the Produce Safety Rule) (24), and (2) Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule (Good Manufacturing Practices,
GMPs) (25).
Prior to the FSMA, guidance documents addressed the
food safety of fresh produce by focusing on the key areas of
food contamination. This industry was without necessary
food safety regulations and followed primarily the direction
of these guidance documents. The apple packing industry
adheres to Good Agricultural Practice (GAPs) and Good
Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), which are preventionbased food production, processing, and marketing systems.
Both serve as prerequisite programs for the Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Point (HACCP) program, which is a
preventive system of quality control (12). Thus, prior to
promulgation of the FDA Produce Safety rules in 2015, the
apple packing industry was without any mandatory in-depth
food safety regulations. Furthermore, this industry had just
experienced a major foodborne illness outbreak near the time
of approaching food safety regulations. Thus, this outbreak
event served as an opportune time to assess this industry
with regard to food safety practices, training, and attitudes on
and preparedness for food safety regulations.
Little research has been conducted to assess the attitudes
and beliefs of food processors regarding food safety regulations. Kaplowitz and Ten Eyck (11) addressed this gap
by focusing on the distribution of attitudes toward safety
regulations among businesses in the food industry. Research
in this area is valuable because management's enthusiasm,
as well as knowledge and persistence, can help in changing
habits and standards, especially with 'lower level' employees
who lack motivation (10). Food handlers' attitudes play an
important role, as the right attitude can help reduce outbreaks of foodborne illnesses (17). Therefore, assessment of
food handler training is important because it offers long-term
benefits to the industry by increasing food safety (19), and
also by aiding in effective implementation of new food safety
programs such as HACCP (27). Educating food handlers in

Food Protection Trends January/February

safe practices is one of the most effective preventive measures
for dealing with foodborne illness, as training can lead to
changes in behavior, attitudes, and practices (6).
Lack of food safety training is associated with poor
knowledge of pathogen risks and critical food safety
practices (17). Food safety training increased knowledge
about practices as well as improving the attitudes of food
handlers (1, 20). The objective of this study was to assess
the knowledge of the apple packing industry's food safety
practices and the implementation of the FSMA requirements. Our study determined current food safety practices
used in apple packing facilities, identified critical food
safety information and training needs, and provided food
safety and FSMA training during a food safety workshop,
with special emphasis on the 2014 caramel apple L. monocytogenes outbreak. A follow-up survey was used to assess the
implementation of FSMA by the surveyed facilities and to
gain broader knowledge about the attitudes and opinions of
the apple packers towards FSMA.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
As part of the present research, three surveys were
administered and a food safety training workshop was
offered for the apple packers. Unless noted otherwise, the
apple packers were from Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania,
California, Illinois, and Missouri. Survey 1 focused on
assessing commercial apple packers' training needs and
current practices following the 2014 outbreak of L. monocytogenes linked to caramel apples. Survey 2 was a postworkshop questionnaire administered after the food safety
workshop to evaluate the workshop, provide commentary,
and demonstrate comprehension of the topics presented.
Survey 3 assessed the attitudes and opinions of the apple
packers about FSMA regulations as well as their progress
towards implementation and was conducted approximately
ten months after the food safety workshop. The surveys were
reviewed and approved by the Michigan State University
human research Institutional Review Board.
Survey 1 - Apple packers' training needs and
current practices
The first survey focused on assessing commercial apple
packers' training needs and current practices following
the 2014 L. monocytogenes outbreak linked to caramel
apples. The list of survey participants (n = 49) and their
contact information were provided by the Michigan Apple
Committee, with additional packers identified by apple
associations in California, New York and Pennsylvania. The
objectives of this survey were to: (1) determine current food
safety practices of apple packing facilities and (2) identify
critical food safety information and training needs for the
industry. Email surveys consisting of eight demographic
questions, as well as 39 common-practices questions divided
into six sections, were emailed to the participants in March

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020

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