January/February 2021 - 15

RESEARCH
FOOD SAFETY
Proactive on food safety
PRODUCE INDUSTRY TAKING AGGRESSIVE
APPROACH ON ADDRESSING CONCERNS
By Stephen Kloosterman
Contributing editor
GROWERS NEED NOT WAIT on the
government for timely guidance to food
safety questions or concerns.
That 's what
indust ry veteran
Victor Smith sees as one of the
biggest benefits of the Center for
Produce Safety (CPS). The Woodland,
California-based nonprofit group in
just 14 years passed on $30 million
from growers and retailers to fund
produce-specific safety research from
researchers around the globe.
A large-scale grower-shipper of
vegetables, JV Smith
Companies has used the
service a couple of times
to promptly determine
risks to food safety -
one proved that dogs or
coyotes in a field could
be a vector for pathogens.
And Smith continues to
sing the praises of the
organization in a new role as president
of the nonprofit's board of directors.
" It's become, in my humble, possiblybiased
opinion, the place, where if
you have a food safety problem or
concern, and you need knowledge, the
Center for Produce Safety should be the
first place you look, " Smith said. The
organization continues to build past
research to create a body of knowledge
guiding the industry through potential
pitfalls. " It's ever-evolving and it's very
responsive to issues anywhere in the
industry. I've seen CPS be so nimble
and so responsive. "
Filling an industry need
Produce, of course, presents special
food safety concerns because there's
no natural " kill step " for pathogens,
such as cooking or pickling, that occurs
 The Center for Produce Safety Board Chair Vic Smith, who is the president and CEO
of J.V. Smith Companies. Photo: J.V. Smith Companies
before the fresh fruits and vegetables
being sold.
CPS was initially formed in 2007
in response to an E. coli illness
outbreak that government officials
linked to bagged spinach. Packaged
salads company Taylor Farms and
the Produce Marketing Association
provided substantial seed money
to form the nonprofit
In the wake of the 2018 outbreak
of E. coli infections that were linked
to Romaine lettuce, agricultural
water contamination has become
a key topic of interest. In the 2018
investigation, officials from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control, the FDA
and state authorities found the same
bacterial strain from the outbreaks in
research
organization. Since that time, the CPS'
research interests have broadened to
include apples during the 2014 Listeria
monocytogenes illness outbreak linked
to candy apples, and even some
research for pistachio and almond
growers, Smith said.
" Grants are given based on how
relevant and how severe the potential
problem is, " he said. " I guarantee you,
the critical projects are funded. "
an agricultural water reservoir.
" That's a problem wherever you go, "
Smith said. " Anything you can learn
about pathogen transfer from water
sources is extremely important. CPS
has done a lot of work in that arena,
really focused on leafy greens, but
going in other directions, too. But a
lot of the research has focused on leafy
greens, and there's no doubt we need it,
because we're growing out in an open
environment, in the good, old fresh
PRODUCE PROCESS ING
15
January/February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2021
