Food Safety Magazine - June/July 2013

PRODUCE
the Harmonized Standards finalized and published, and the
operating policies and continuous improvement established,
members of the Steering Committee were asked, “Will you
endorse audits using the Harmonized Standards?” Many had
no conditions, but some did: Some buyers required the audits
to be done by specific organizations, for example, a government
auditor; some buyers required the audit to be performed
under a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-benchmarked
scheme and some had riders. All of these were audit process
conditions, and all of the produce-buying companies on the
Steering Committee agreed that they would accept audits
using the Harmonized Standards under their conditions. According
to Bill Pool, Wegmans manager for produce safety,
“Wegmans Food Markets has actively encouraged our suppliers
to use this standard for their audits. We have found that
it works quite well for most farming operations, and I’ve got
folks ranging from a 1-acre organic heirloom tomato grower
to a 500-acre conventional multicrop vegetable grower using
the Harmonized Standard. And I’ve got some greenhouse
growers using it as well. Of all the audits done last year for our
local growers, about 75 percent of them used the Harmonized
Standards.” Charlie Cook, president of Country Fare Consulting
LLC (CFC), retained by Subway to manage its produce
supply chain vendor auditing program, says, “CFC has been
using the Harmonized Standards for the past 2 years, and we
wholeheartedly support the use of this standard by produce
suppliers. The Harmonized Standard incorporates FDA guidance
and best industry practice into one understandable document
supporting the production and supply of safe produce
nationally, thereby reducing the number of audits.” Other
major produce buyers, not on the original Steering Committee,
were also asked whether they would accept audits using
the Harmonized Standards. Invariably, upon being informed
of how the standards were created and tested, and seeing them
for themselves, every produce-buying company approached
has said yes. Again, some have conditions to their acceptance,
the same as mentioned above, so operations are encouraged
to talk with their buyers before scheduling an audit. But the
extent of acceptance among buyers means that an operation
should already be able to reduce its audit burden to only a few
and, in some cases, one per year (Figure 1).
Our technical and customer service
staff averages over 20 years of
experience, ensuring you:
The right testing protocol,
for your food and feed analysis
The most cost-effective solution
(only the tests you need)
A personal commitment to work
in partnership with you
Trusted Testing Solutions Since 1916
Figure 1: Buyer acceptance: These produce-buying companies, and
more, endorse audits using the Harmonized Standards. Some conditions
may apply; please check with your customer/buyer.
To put us to the test, visit our website at
www.npal.com
or call us at 800-423-6832.
J u n e • J u l y 2 0 1 3 61