The need for prevention-based food safety programs for fresh produce

Food safety practices such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP) are employed to reduce food safety risks at the farm level. However, fruits and vegetables are field crops in which sporadic contamination can occur at any point, from production to shipping, and it is difficult to distinguish contaminated produce items from those free of contamination. Employing contaminated agricultural water for production and post-harvest activities poses a significant threat to the safety of produce; exposure of plants to contaminated soil or manure can lead to contamination of the harvestable portion of the crop. Using a prevention-based approach that focuses on comprehensive risk analysis at every step, including growing, harvesting, handling, packaging, and shipping, appears to be a logical way to reduce the risk of foodborne illness associated with fresh produce. Prevention-based approaches are exactly what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) produce safety rule (PSR), which was established on the basis of science-based minimum standards, is intended to achieve. The objective of this paper is to highlight the various complex routes of fresh produce contamination and emphasize the importance of using a holistic prevention-based food safety system that can reduce the risk of contamination.