The Value of a Food Safety Plan

by Shari L. Plimpton, Ph.D.

Talking about "value" is not something to be done lightly with growers. Value is the name of the game. Without value you could "lose the farm," literally. Yet, you still hear people bandying around the word "value" for every little thing, as well as the big ones. "Current cash value," "intrinsic value," and "value-added" are a few of the ways "value" enters our lives, clouds our eyes, and fogs our brains before we read another word.

So, I will keep it simple. I am talking about how important it is for you to reduce your risks. Reducing your risks is the value of a Food Safety Plan. Food Safety Plans are a systematic way to assess the food safety risks in your operation, and document your effort to reduce them.

How does it minimize your risks? Reducing food safety risk for consumers speaks for itself. Growers grow not only for the opportunity to make a livelihood, but they also grow for the value (there’s that word again) they add to people’s lives. Making people sick is not acceptable to any grower. Reducing your risk of doing so is, as they say, invaluable.

Another form of risk reduction can occur in the unfortunate event of a fresh produce associated, food borne outbreak. When the FDA is informed of an outbreak, its agents study the cases, conduct laboratory tests, and then conduct an "environmental investigation." The nature of this third step in their investigation process is to first determine if the contamination was most likely to have occurred at the point of food preparation, and then to determine where it may have occurred if not there. Having a food safety plan in place helps to establish the credibility of the grower as a safe operation and ultimately to reduce the risk that an investigation ever focuses on the farm.

Finally, another important area of risk reduction is lost business. The number of distributors and retailers requiring growers to have food safety plans is increasing. Many are accompanying this requirement with the specification that the grower undergo annual third party audits to establish that the Food Safety Plan is in place and being implemented. In this environment having a practical food safety plan can be a selling point for your business, and reduce the likelihood that you are passed over for growers who have made the effort to reduce their risks.

Consultation for GAPs, developing food safety programs, and passing third party audits is available through CIFT. You can reach us by calling Shari L. Plimpton at 614-314-4627 or emailing us at foodsafety@eisc.org.

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• GAPs in Organics: Fresh Produce Safety from Pre-planting through Production

• Handling Your Food Safety Risks

• Its Not All in the Bag

• Passing a Third Party Food Safety Audit

• Pest Patrol for Fruit and Vegetable Growers

• Planning for Prevention: Fresh Produce Safety from Pre-planting through Production

• So, Just How Clean is Your Water

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• Worker Hygiene Keeps Produce Clean