Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020 - 31

2015. The six sections for the common practice portion
were: shipping/receiving, facility design and equipment,
cleaning and sanitation of facility, pest control, food safety
management and HACCP, and environmental monitoring.
The apple packers were also given a list of food safety topics
and asked to rate each topic as a low, medium or high training
need for their facility. The accompanying email detailed the
purpose of the survey, and a consent form was sent with the
survey questionnaire.
Survey 2 - Food safety workshop evaluation
The second survey was conducted after the Food Safety
Workshop held in April 2015 to evaluate the workshop and
overall comprehension of the topics presented. The content
of the food safety workshop had been developed on the basis
of information collected during Survey 1 and was tailored to
the training needs and current industry practices indicated by
the packers. The objectives of the workshop were to address
variables attributed to caramel apple causing illnesses in the
outbreak and prepare for the implementation of FSMA. The
workshop, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, covered the
following topics: the outbreak associated with caramel apples
and related incidents, characteristics and control of Listeria
in food facilities, practical aspects of Listeria control in the
food facilities by cleaning and sanitation programs, new
FSMA-related produce safety regulatory requirements, and
sanitary design in food facilities. The expert speakers were
representatives from academia, companies assisting with food
safety compliance and training, and government agencies.
The post-workshop questionnaire, along with a consent
form, was given to the participants and collected on site.
The questionnaire consisted of multiple choice and openended questions, and questions using a 4-point Likert scale
(strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree, and disagree) to
evaluate the workshop. Participants were also encouraged to
provide additional comments. The 53 participants who filled
out the questionnaire and attended the workshop included
individuals who participated in Survey 1 and others who
were interested in food safety training. Most of the attendees
were employed in supervisory or decision-making managerial
positions within their facilities.
Survey 3 - Opinions and attitudes of commercial apple
packers on FSMA
The third survey focused on gauging the attitudes and
opinions of the apple packers about FSMA regulations and
their progress toward implementation of these rules. This
survey was conducted about ten months after the food
safety workshop. An online survey tool, SurveyMonkey, was
used to collect responses for Survey 3, with the objective of
increasing the response rate. The participants were emailed
a link that directed them to the survey, explained the
purpose of the survey, and informed participants of the
time it would take to complete the survey. A consent form

prefaced the survey questions. The survey contained
demographic questions, follow-up questions, and attitude
questions using a 4-point Likert scale (strongly agree,
agree, disagree, and strongly disagree). This survey was
administered in March 2016.
The survey participants targeted were attendees of the food
safety workshop and served as a follow-up on training and
implementation (n = 16). The participants were given instructions to complete the survey within 12 days. After 12 days, a
follow-up email was sent, which garnered more responses.
Statistical analysis
All responses were coded and descriptive statistics (means)
were generated using Microsoft Excel.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Assessing commercial apple packers' training needs and
current practices
The overall response rate was 45% (n = 22). The response
rates from Michigan were 65%, from New York 14%, from
California 17%, and from Pennsylvania 100%.
Apple packers' characteristics
The characteristics of the apple packers who responded
to the survey are detailed in Table 1. Most (59%) of the
respondents were from Michigan and made $1,000,001 -
10,000,000 (64%) in sales, meaning that they were larger
facilities. The FDA determines size from sales, so under the
FSMA Produce Safety Rule, very small businesses are those
with more than $25,000 but no more than $250,000 in
average annual produce sales during the previous three-year
period; small businesses are those with more than $250,000
but no more than $500,000 in average annual produce
sales during the previous three-year period (23). Under the
FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule, very small
businesses average less than $1 million per year (adjusted for
inflation) in both annual sales of human food plus the market
value of human food manufactured, processed, packed, or
held without sale, and a small business is a business with
fewer than 500 full-time equivalent employees (26).
Both of the definitions under the Produce Safety Rule and
Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule are used, as apple-packing facilities may fall under either of the rules. Also,
the majority of the respondents (62%) had both foreign and
domestic customers (restaurants, institutional food services,
and food hubs) and equipment dedicated to apples (95%),
and 21-40% of their apples were used for further processing
(59%). Half of the facilities had undergone government regulator inspections within the previous 12 months (surveyed
in March 2015) which included inspections by FDA, USDA,
and USDA GAPs, Michigan Department of Agriculture &
Rural Development (MDARD), New York State Department
of Agriculture & Markets (NY AG & MKTS), and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

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Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020

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