Putting Food Safety First

These strategies aren't just for the holidays, but also for every day.

This holiday season, I suggest giving the gift of being 100 percent committed to making sure customers have a safe and healthy eating experience — every bite, every time, whatever it takes.

In what have become weekly updates on the tragic toll of the deadliest produce safety incident in modern U.S. history, news of yet another death attributed to the Listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupes hit me literally at the same time I sat down to draft this column. An equally horrific story from Europe emerged this past summer, when nearly 50 people died and thousands were sickened in an E. coli 157:H7 outbreak tied to sprouts.

I don't need to belabor the tragedy for the victims, their families, and the businesses that will no doubt struggle to survive in the aftermath. However, I do need to underscore the demand for better food safety programs at all points across the supply chain, including at retail.

The Cost of Doing Business

Yes, greater commitment to a comprehensive food safety program will cost your retail operation more money. But the facts of recent foodborne illness outbreaks only further highlight the importance of that investment. Making food safety a guidepost in managing your business, not risking people's lives, is simply the cost of doing business. Ensuring public health is our livelihood and moral obligation.

The investment I'm talking about means making food safety more than a plan on a shelf or the ability to pass an audit. A comprehensive food safety program requires a corporate-wide commitment, starting in the CEO's office. Food safety programs should be based on a broad-risk assessment, include a risk management plan, and be regularly reviewed and updated for continuous improvement. You should be staying abreast of food safety issues, research and innovations. If these commitments aren't worth your dime, then I'd argue you don't belong in the food industry.

And don't think for a minute your operation is immune to getting caught in a food safety crisis. As I present on food safety issues and talk with supply chain members across the country, I've noticed some tend to classify foodborne illness outbreaks as unusual, isolated incidents. Working as I do onsite with growers, packers, shippers, wholesalers and retailers, I can tell you that inadequate food safety practices exist. No doubt, the fresh produce industry has certainly demonstrated commitment to constant innovation in the way we grow, process and ship produce, which is why we have one of the safest food supplies in the world. But gaps in proper food safety measures occur every day throughout the supply chain and make everyone vulnerable. We must and can do better.

Buyers assume as much responsibility to ensure fresh produce's safety as do growers and everyone else along the supply chain. After all, consumers rely on the front line of grocery stores to sell fruits and vegetables that won't make them sick. Companies all along the supply chain end up involved in settling foodborne illness cases. They're drawn into court trials and experience tough financial losses to litigation, settlements and damaged reputations. We must determine how breaches in safety happen and how we can keep them from happening again. We must all accept responsibility as we look for ways to turn this tide.

Taking Action

Tides fall the same way they rise — one instant at a time. To understand how we can keep this kind of tragedy from happening again, we need to understand each moment leading up to that point. Where were the knowledge gaps in production? Were there deficiencies in training?

I encourage you to look internally and assess your stores' own controls; chief among them is to know trading partners' philosophies on food safety. This means inquiring about your suppliers' corporate food safety plans and what they're doing to follow those plans every day.

Your company can strengthen its link in the supply chain by educating itself on research and innovations, and the risk- and science-based food safety programs growers need. Outline what you expect of suppliers and stand behind a solid food safety program at all costs, and show loyalty to growers that do, too.

If you don't have the level of in-house food safety knowledge you feel you need, then hire someone who does and who can work with you — not do it for you. Keep in mind that the best science in the world won't stop consumers from being sickened and could result in our businesses being ruined until we create a culture within our operations that serves as a guidepost to everyday decisions.

Protecting Consumer Confidence

Good food safety programs come at a cost, but not making that investment is a much greater cost to consumers and the entire produce supply chain. The result of not being perceived as safe by consumers only results in their not buying and eating the healthy fruits and vegetables needed for better health.

Any news of illness or death linked to a single fruit or vegetable quickly becomes a category killer. In the instance with cantaloupes, I commend the traceability programs that isolated the problem to one farm, one crop and one packing house. I also commend the buyers who carried cantaloupes and encouraged their customers to buy them. The challenges, and opportunities, in managing food safety are great — the biggest challenge we as an industry have ever faced. But food safety is non-negotiable. Everyone in the chain must be accountable. Using what we already know to be right is an essential first step to not letting outbreaks happen ever again. The second step is being committed to continuous improvement.

To give the gift of being 100 percent committed to making sure customers, our own families included, enjoy a safe and wholesome product with every bite, establish a culture of food safety that everyone in your organization can buy into each and every day.

Robert J. Whitaker, Ph.D., is chief science and technology officer at the Produce Marketing Association. He maybe reached at [email protected].