September/October 2023 - 18
CPS WWW.CENTERFORPRODUCESAFETY.ORG
Listeria learnings
PATHOGEN BEARS CLOSE MONITORING AND COLLABORATION
I self-identify as a
By Amy Parks
Center for Produce
Safety
food safety nerd. When
a college professor
offered me a job in a
food microbiology lab,
I fell in love with it and
never looked back.
Now I'm responsible
fo r fo o d s a fe t y
i n n ov a t io n a n d
regulatory compliance
for Dole Food Company,
primarily Dole's Fresh Vegetables (DFV)
division. I evaluate new interventions and
testing methods, stay on top of others'
research and conduct our own. Because
I'm responsible for corporate sanitation,
I'm in our plants, too.
My background helps me see food safety
problems, evaluate options, and ensure
adopted solutions work from a food safety
and an operations perspective.
WHAT DOES PRODUCE SAFETY LOOK
LIKE?
All successful food safety programs
are collaborative. Our Food Safety and
Quality Assurance team works closely
with our operations teams to identify
issues; we collaborate to solve problems.
When we traced a December 2021
Listeria monocytogenes (LM) outbreak
to harvest equipment, our president
brought growers, harvesters and
equipment manufacturers together to
collaborate on how to reduce risk by
improving harvest sanitation.
Dole is a platinum-level contributor to
Center for Produce Safety because we see
a lot of value in CPS's produce-specific
food safety research. We have developed
relationships with CPS-funded researchers;
we've tapped into their data to help with
our decision making. For example, we've
employed an LM risk assessment model
Rutgers University's Donald Schaffner
developed* with CPS funding.
LISTERIA RESEARCH TO WATCH
LM is one of produce safety's most
common enemies, and because of our
history with the pathogen I closely watch
CPS research on it. It's important for us
to stay on the leading edge of available
research, so our work is first and foremost
preventive instead of reactive.
My undergraduate advisor used to
say that microorganisms don't read
textbooks, so they don't know how
to behave. Clemson's Paul Dawson,
Ph.D., just proved that's true of LM
(and salmonella).
We already knew these pathogens
persist in wet conditions. At CPS's
Research Symposium in June, Dawson
reported they can also persist on dry
packinghouse surfaces after the season
Pilar Truchado, Ph.D., is evaluating whether bacteriophages - viruses that target specific bacteria - can control Listeria monocytogenes on leafy greens.
This research is being conducted on a commercial processing line. Photo courtesy of Pilar Truchado.
18 SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2023
http://www.centerforproducesafety.org
September/October 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2023
The Process
A century of sustainability
Safety starts with sanitation
Sorting solutions
Waste not, cut costs
Center for Produce Safety
PMMI
The Pulse
Calendar
Advertiser Index
What’s on the Web
September/October 2023 - 1
September/October 2023 - 2
September/October 2023 - 3
September/October 2023 - The Process
September/October 2023 - 5
September/October 2023 - A century of sustainability
September/October 2023 - 7
September/October 2023 - Safety starts with sanitation
September/October 2023 - 9
September/October 2023 - 10
September/October 2023 - 11
September/October 2023 - Sorting solutions
September/October 2023 - 13
September/October 2023 - 14
September/October 2023 - 15
September/October 2023 - Waste not, cut costs
September/October 2023 - 17
September/October 2023 - Center for Produce Safety
September/October 2023 - 19
September/October 2023 - PMMI
September/October 2023 - 21
September/October 2023 - The Pulse
September/October 2023 - What’s on the Web
September/October 2023 - 24
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/november-december-2019
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/august-2019
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