Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020 - 33

Apple packers' current practices
It is important to dissect the apple packers' current
practices to further understand their training needs. As
Egan et al. (6) state, in order to be effective, food hygiene
training needs to target behaviors most likely to result in
foodborne illness and focus on changing them. Common
food safety practices questions about shipping/receiving,
facility design and equipment, cleaning and sanitation,
pest control, food safety management and HACCP, and
environmental monitoring programs were asked in order
to identify what practices each packing facility had in place
or was currently working on establishing at the time of the
survey. The apple packers were asked to answer 'no,' 'yes,'
or 'in progress' to 39 common practices divided into six
food safety categories. Table 2 shows 17 practices that were
chosen because of their relevancy to the outbreak, along
with the responses by the participants.
The 2015 practices for the industry generally followed GAPs,
GMPs, and HACCP, although these were not mandatory for
produce. Overall, the respondents had a high baseline for the
common practices specified. The majority of the food safety

common practices were already in place or in progress. For example, all facilities had an HACCP plan or a written food safety
plan. HACCP builds on prerequisite programs, so if an HACCP
plan is in place, food safety issues under several categories are
being addressed. Most of the respondents (86%) indicated that
their facilities followed the written food safety protocol or HACCP at all times (results not shown).
The high baseline may be because 82% of the facilities
had customer food safety audits and certifications that went
beyond the legal requirements in the U.S.; PrimusGFS,
USDA Harmonized, and USDA GMP/GAP/GHP were
noted as some of the customer food safety audits and
certifications for these apple-packing facilities. PrimusGFS
audits alone can include Food Safety Management Systems
(FSMS), GAPs, GMPs and HACCP (14). Customer
standards seem to be one of the reasons for existing food
safety practices for this industry, which until recently was not
subject to formal federal food safety regulations. However,
91% of the facilities had passed a food safety audit (not
including inspections by government authorities) within
the past 12 months, and 9% were waiting on their results.

TABLE 2. Reported current practices of survey respondents (n = 22)
Yes

No

In
Progress

N/A

There is a supplier approval program in place

91 (20)1

0

5 (1)

5 (1)

Our suppliers have a traceability process

86 (19)

0

9 (2)

5 (1)

The water in the flumes are changed on a routine basis

100 (22)

0

0

0

Sanitizer chemicals such as chlorine are used in the flume system

100 (22)

0

0

0

The pH of the water in the flumes system is regulated

91 (20)

9 (2)

0

0

There is a sanitation standard operating procedure in place for fruit bins and containers

64 (14)

36 (8)

0

0

There is a written sanitation standard operating procedure for the facility

100 (22)

0

0

0

Food contact surfaces are either stainless steel or food-grade plastic

55 (12)

45 (10)

0

0

Effective cleaning of food contact surfaces are monitored using validation tests

64 (14)

23 (5)

14 (3)

0

The facility has designated food safety program leader

100 (22)

0

0

0

Our employees receive regular training on food safety practices

100 (22)

0

0

0

The facility has HACCP plan or a written food safety program

100 (22)

0

0

0

The facility currently swabs for Listeria monocytogenes

68 (15)

14 (3)

14 (3)

5 (1)

Environmental monitoring (E.M.) swabs/tests are conducted

68 (15)

14 (3)

18 (4)

0

E.M. program has set microbiological criteria

50 (11)

27 (6)

23 (5)

0

Records are kept of all E.M. swab results and corrective actions

82 (18)

9 (2)

5 (1)

5 (1)

The water used in the facility is tested on a regular basis

95 (21)

5 (1)

0

0

Current Practices

Response: Percent (n)

1

January/February Food Protection Trends

33
Food Protection Trends - January/February 2020

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