Qingren Wang
University of Florida
USA
Title: Developing and implementing food safety approaches to vegetable industry in the USA
Biography
Biography: Qingren Wang
Abstract
Food safety has become one of important priorities to consumers, producers and handlers because outbreak of a foodborne illness can cause serious health problems even death, and the producers or handlers may face bankruptcy and litigation consequences. To imprpve food safety the U.S. government has lauched a number of programs, such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Hazard Analysis of Critical Contro Points (HACCPs), and the final rule of Food Safety Modernizaiton Act (FSMA) for agricultural products including fresh vegetables as general guidelines to minimize food safety risks of microbiological, chemical and physical hazards. The implementation of these guidelines in various commodities of vegetable industry requires a development of the comprehensive extension program for specific crops during growing, harvesting, transportation, processing, packing, storage and handling of fresh vegetable products. The implementation of these programs is to focus on farm managers, on-site food safety coordinators, vegetable harvesters, shippers, packers, and processors to minimize any potential hazards associated with various aspects including land history, adjacent land use, water quality, worker hygiene, pesticide and fertilizer application, equipment sanitation, transportation, and processing procedures.
