Quality requirements for fresh cut vegetable manufacturers

1
Quality requirements for fresh cut vegetable
manufacturers

• Dr Robert Premier

2
A short overview of the Australian fresh cut
industry in Australia

• Types of products
• Major clients
• Australia versus the rest of the world
• Growth of industry

3
Types of productsReady to use

• Ready to eat
• Ready to cook
• Kits

Wash before use Packed salad mix Packed
vegetable mix
4
Fresh cuts are part of the convenience food
revolution
5
Major Clients

• Ready to eat, ready to cook, Kits
• Supermarkets
• Coles, Woolworths, Metcash
• Food Service
• Restaurants, canteens, hospitals, fast food
  outlets

6
Australia versus the rest of the world Fresh cut
as of total produce sales

• .

7
Growth of Industry over past 4 years

• In million dollars

8
Quality Assurance costs for Fresh cut
manufacturers

• Over the past two years the industry has seen
  proliferation of private labels products with a
  consequential increase in QA requirements
• Increased scrutiny of human pathogens including
  Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella
• Fresh cuts have been listed as high risk products
  and attract extra microbiological tests
• Cost of QA increased by 35 to 50 over the past
  year
• Climate variability is also a contributor

9
QA requirements for the Fresh Cut industry have
changed in the past few years. For the
processing companies

• Processing plant now has to comply to the
  following QA systems
• SQF 2000 level 3
• WQA
• BRC
• Spotless
• Codex HACCP
• Burger King
• Coles plus requirements
• Various State and local council requirements
• Water quality requirements

10
We know that there is a long chain from farm to
fork that directly impacts on food safety with 4
distinct QA focal points Preharvest factors,
Postharvest factors, Processing factors, Retail
and consumer factors

• soil preparation
• planting
• fertilization
• watering
• harvesting
• pre-cooling
• washing
• packing
• transport
• storage

• distribution
• storage
• processing
• re-packing
• transport
• storage
• retail
• consumer
• storage
• consumption

11
We know there is no kill step
12
Food safety starts in the field
production system
climate conditions
fertilisers
Good Agricultural Practices
harvesting packing storage
soil

• hygiene practices

water quality
A tool to control food safety from farm to plate
13
Fresh cut industry standard for on farm food
safety

• Quality assurance systems Plus

Plus
Or
14
Salad GAP was developed by the top 5 fresh cut
manufacturers in response to increasing pressure
placed on them by clients to supply SAFE food

• Salad Forum Formed in 2007 to address common
  issues in the fresh cut industry. Food safety was
  seen as an issue that could affect all producers
  and Salad GAP, developed through TQA inc and HAL,
  has been one of the outputs of the forum, the
  second output has been the commissioning of a
  report looking at Listeria monocytogenes in the
  fresh cut industry.
• New members to the forum are always welcomed

15
Listeria monocytogenes in the fresh cut industry

• Study by Dr Tom Ross from the Food Safety Centre,
  Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research.
  University of Tasmania. Fear from clients has led
  to the commissioning of a report
• the shelf life of RTE fresh cut vegetables is
  currently relatively short compared to higher
  risk products such as processed meats
• the growth rate of L. monocytogenes is slower
  than on some other foods types
• these products in Australia are relatively
  infrequently contaminated with L. monocytogenes
• the initial assessment of low risk is supported
  by lack of epidemiological evidence of listeriosis

16
Food Safety through the Fresh Cut vegetable chain

• Pre-harvest factors Freshcare or SQF plus
  SaladGAP
• Post-harvest factors Freshcare or SQF plus
  SaladGAP
• Processing factors WQA, SQF 2000 level3, BRC,
  Burger king, Codex HACCP
• Retail and
  Consumer factors ??

17
We must understand the limitation of open field
growing conditions when it comes to food safety,
however on farm QA systems help
Percentage of samples positive for generic E.
coli, for both QA certified and non QA certified
farms at the three stages of the supply chain.
18
Culture Systems
Open field
Protected cultivation systems offer better
control of microbiological contaminants
in soil
Protected cultivation
soilless
19
Culture Systems
Protected Cultivation Soil
20
Culture Systems
Soilless Culture System
21
Culture Systems
Soilless Culture System
FLOATING SYSTEM
22
Conclusion

• The fresh cut industry is an important part of
  the Australian Vegetable industry
• The fresh cut industry must address quality,
  particularly the issue of food safety
• The concept of quality including food safety
  involves the whole chain
• Safe fresh cuts can only come from safe raw
  material
• High quality fresh cuts can only come from high
  quality raw material
• There is a need to look at alternative ways to
  grow safer, better quality vegetables for the
  fresh cut industry.

23
In the future A GAP guide for product quality

• Specific Good Agricultural Practices for product
  quality for the Fresh Cut industry
• These must be product specific and include
  cultivar variation
• These must be area specific
• Must consider product quality from pre planting
  to cultivation to harvest and postharvest
• Example Good Agricultural practice to
  reduce/eliminate folding and bruising of leafy
  vegetables

24
Thanks

• The Australian Salad Forum