Food Safety Magazine - June/July 2013

PRODUCE
By David E. Gombas, Ph.D.
Produce GAPs Harmonization:
The Goal Is in Sight
O“One audit by any credible third party, acceptable
to all buyers” was the goal of fresh
produce growers and buyers alike in 2009,
when the Produce Good Agricultural Practices
(GAPs) Harmonization Initiative began. Led
by a Steering Committee of over 30 major fresh produce buying
companies, growers and produce trade association staff,
the produce industry came together to reduce the audit burden
that it had enabled by accepting and supporting a wide
variety of food safety audit standards, many of which were the
same, adding cost but not improving food safety, and some
so contradictory that a grower could pass a food safety audit
today and fail tomorrow.
Where We Were
For the initiative to be successful, the Steering Committee
established that the “Harmonized Standards” should be focused
on food safety and prefarm gate operations, consistent
with the scope of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) GAPs Guide, and identified the following parameters:
• Clearly defined requirements that minimize opportunity
Harmonized
produce standards
close to reality
for misunderstanding, misinterpretation
and “standards creep” by operations and
auditors
• A standard that is globally recognized, but
specifically applicable to North American
operations
• Requirements that are risk-based, science-based, attainable,
auditable and verifiable
• Requirements that consider all microbiological, chemical
and physical hazards reasonably likely to occur, consistent
with potential hazards addressed in FDA regulatory
guidances
• A standard that is scalable to fresh produce operations of
all sizes
• Requirements that recognize and take into account
regional- and commodity-specific food safety needs
• A standard that is sufficiently nonprescriptive to accept
equivalent food safety practices
• Requirements that are acceptable to a critical mass of customers
requiring general produce food safety audits
• A standard that is freely accessible for nonproprietary use
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