Food safety research advances and priorities for fresh produce (HG09068)

This is a final research report from Hort Innovation’s historical archives. Please note that as these reports may date back as far as the 1990s, the content and recommendations within them may be superseded by more recent research.

What was it all about?

The latest developments in fresh produce food safety research were presented and discussed at the Produce Research Symposium convened by the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) at the University of California, Davis in June 2010.

The CPS was established as a collaborative research centre in 2007 with funding from industry and government, following a significant national outbreak of E.coli O157:H7 contamination in 2006, attributed to bagged spinach. This inaugural symposium presented the results from the first eleven research projects funded by the Center, targeted at better understanding the risks for on-farm microbiological contamination of fresh produce.

The Produce Research Symposium was followed by the Produce Safety Research Priorities workshop, where industry and government met to identify and discuss the future directions, strategies and mechanisms for funding fresh produce food safety research.

Over 200 leading fresh produce food safety researchers, industry leaders and government agency representatives participated in the Symposium and workshop. The success of these events shaped future investment in USA food safety research and the science conducted had global implications for improving fresh produce food safety.

This forum also provided opportunities for Australian researchers to engage in collaborative research projects and communication with the CPS through the strong Produce Marketing Association linkages and relationships that were established in Australia. The next CPS Produce Research Symposium was scheduled for Florida in 2011 and this event series became the premier international forum for advances in fresh produce food safety research.

Following the conclusion of events at UC Davis, a tour of Salinas Valley leafy greens production areas provided vital insights into the on-farm food safety practices implemented in previous years to minimize the risk of further outbreaks associated with fresh produce.