September/October 2020 - 13

LEAFY GREENS
Traceability systems widely
used by leafy greens producers
A survey of member companies operating under the
California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement shows that
producers are capable of quickly tracking product involved
in an outbreak or recall.
Under the current FSMA's Produce Safety Rule, farms are
not considered registered facilities and thus are not required
to have a traceback system in place by the federal government.
Not so with the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA).
The LGMA program does require leafy greens farms to have
a system to trace product back to the field where it was
grown and forward to the first customer who receives it.
Verification that a traceback system is in place happens
every time an LGMA member is audited by the government,
which occurs about five times per year under our program.
The LGMA says with confidence that 100% of its members
have a traceback system in place.
In an effort to learn more about the value of the LGMA
traceability requirements and to assess the capabilities of our
members' traceback systems, the LGMA recently conducted
a survey. Fifty-two of the California LGMA's 93 members
responded to a series of questions about their traceability
programs, providing a 56% response rate. The respondents
span a variety of operation types including large and midsized
processors, large and mid-size commodity shippers
and smaller specialty item grower shippers.
The goal of this survey is to better understand how leafy
greens producers' traceback systems are contributing to
outbreak investigations and determine if there are additional
requirements that could improve the speed and accuracy in
finding the source of future outbreaks that may be linked to
leafy green farms. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
has emphasized that improved traceback efficiencies could
greatly enhance outbreak investigations.
Unfortunately, in recent outbreaks we've heard reports
from government investigators that too many traceback
systems involve antiquated paper-based systems. But we
aren't sure that's actually the case. Through our survey, we
did find that some (15%) of our members use paper-based
systems, but the majority (85%) are using electronic systems.
What's most important, however, is that 100% of survey
respondents report they can trace product back to the
field where it was grown in 2 hours or less, regardless
of whether they had a paper-based or electronic system.
Additionally, the survey found the following:
* 100% of respondents report traceback systems capture
information on activities involving growing and
harvesting the product;
* 100% can identify the grower, ranch/field and date of
harvest for all leafy greens they produce,
* 100% report they test their traceback systems at least
once per year to verify it is working.
* 96% are capturing information on the harvest crew
who picked the product.
- LGMA
PRODUCE PROCESS ING
Print Ad - Produce Processing - Sept/Oct 2020 Issue.indd 1
11
2020-09-18 11:01 AM
1.866.404.4545 www.devilletechnologies.com
FS40
FAM Tridis 180
CMD2
Cut high demand down to size.
INDUSTRY NEWS
With demand as high as it
is right now, we can help
you operate at your highest
level of performance with
simple, hygienic and versatile cutting
solutions. You meet demand because we get it...
we see the whole picture.
Join us virtually at:
PACK Expo CONNECTS
November 9-13, 2020 - Virtual Show
http://www.devilletechnologies.com
September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2020
