Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Center for Produce Safety's (CPS) second research symposium brought the private fresh produce supply chain together with researchers and government officials on June 28, 2011, to learn about and discuss the real-world business applicability of the center's produce-specific food safety research. It attracted 249 attendees from the private produce and food safety communities, including growers, packers, processors and commodity groups, retailers and restaurant operators, as well as representatives from government and academia. They convened at the Omni Championsgate, Orlando, Florida, to hear the results of sixteen produce-specific food safety research projects and discuss their immediate production and business applications. Research findings were presented on topics related to postharvest approaches to minimizing pathogen contamination; pathogen survival and mitigations in production environments; the challenges and opportunities of mining industry and surveillance data to assess risks in the produce industry; novel approaches to understanding interactions between human pathogens and produce; and a discussion on a broader view of produce safety. Researchers came from a broad range of agricultural research universities and government agencies, including USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Florida, University of California, Davis, University of Delaware, University of California Cooperative Extension, Oklahoma State University, California Department of Fish and Game, and Intertox, Inc. After a brief presentation by each researcher, the real-world implications of each project were discussed by panelists from across the supply chain and the public sector, including the Florida Tomato Committee, United Fresh Produce Association, Del Campo Supreme, Inc., DRS, Inc., FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Almond Board of California, US Food Service, Ocean Mist Farms, Del Monte Fresh Produce Company, Markon Cooperative, FDA, Wegmans, Western Growers Association, Northwest Horticultural Council, Westside Produce, California Tomato Farmers, McDonald's Corporation, USDA-ARS, University of Florida IFAS, Ready Pac Produce, Inc., Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Produce Marketing Association. "As a grower and packer, I know food safety threats don't care about our company size, where we tend our crops, what we pack, or where we display and serve," said Stephen Patricio, incoming CPS Advisory Board Chairman. Explaining why it is important to continue to expand the center's work, he wrote, "As a long-time industry volunteer leader, I know it will take us all, working together, to best those threats." "The symposium reflected the efforts of so many dedicated stakeholders, and it is great to see the broad and sincere interest in our mutual challenge to raise consumer confidence in our healthy fresh fruits and vegetables," said Alec Leach, president of Taylor Farms, a founding partner of CPS and one of the symposium's sponsors. PARTICIPANTS: No staff was paid on this grant. PI Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, CPS executive director, and Leslie Maulhardt, CPS grants manager, provided event management for the Produce Research Symposium in 2011 through cost-share of their salaries from the University of California, Davis. In 2011 eleven organizations (10 corporate and 1 academic) provided funds through sponsorship agreements. Many individuals, from the private fresh produce supply chain together with researchers and government officials, provided in-kind support of their time and expertise as speakers and panel members. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience is people who work in the produce industry who can discuss the science behind food safety to help manage potential risks. The participants were members of industry, academia and government. In 2011 the first session panelists from the Florida Tomato Committee, United Fresh, Del Campo Supreme, DRS and FDA-CFSAN discussed postharvest approaches to minimizing pathogen contamination following presentations by scientists from USDA-ARS, the University of Florida and the University of California, Davis. During the second session representatives from the Almond Board of California, FDA-CFSAN, US Food Service, Ocean Mist Farms and Del Monte Fresh addressed issues raised by scientists from the University of California, the University of Delaware, Oklahoma State University, and the University of California Cooperative Extension about pathogen survival and mitigations in production environments. The third session looked at the challenges and opportunities of mining industry and surveillance data to assess risks in the produce industry. The panel included researchers from the University of California, Davis, California Department of Fish and Game and Intertox, Inc., and representatives from Markon Cooperative, FDA, Wegmans, Western Growers Association, Northwest Horticultural Council and Westside Produce. Session four focused on novel approaches to understanding interactions between human pathogens and produce. Following research results from the University of Florida, University of California, Davis, and University of Delaware, the panelists from McDonald's Corp., California Tomato Farmers, USDA-ARS, Ready Pac Produce and University of Florida-IFAS discussed its implications. The final session in 2011 addressed a broader view of produce safety by representatives from the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, Florida Department of Agriculture, FDA, Ocean Mist Farms, and Produce Marketing Association. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
On June 28, 2011 the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) held its second annual Produce Research Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The symposium featured the presentation and discussion of sixteen CPS-funded research projects from eight different institutions, and the display of 22 research posters providing updates on CPS-funded research projects. For the first time, the poster session also featured 5 posters depicting FDA research projects on food safety in produce. The abstracts for these research projects and posters can be found on the CPS website: www.cps.ucdavis.edu. Twelve key findings of the research are the impressions of Robert Whitaker, PhD, CPS Technical Committee Chairman and Chief Science and Technology Officer of the Produce Marketing Association. Comments and feedback from the CPS Technical Committee are included in the key learnings. In conjunction with CPS's ongoing mission to translate research, we have provided a glimpse of the key research findings, discussions points, observations and highlights from the symposium. Those learnings may be found on the CPS website (www.cps.ucdavis.edu) and have been widely disseminated and discussed throughout the fresh produce supply chain, as well as in research and regulatory communities. The symposium showcased how a strong collaboration with industry, government and academia can result in timely and important research results. Final reports for the projects funded by CPS have been posted to the CPS website. The final reports were submitted as deliverables for research funded by CPS and presented at the CPS Produce Research Symposia in June 2010 and June 2011. They have not been subject to peer-review. In a post symposium survey completed by 63 respondents almost all respondents (92%) are very or somewhat likely to recommend this event to a friend or colleague. Respondents believe the featured research is relevant to the produce industry, assigning the projects average weighted scores of 1.8 or higher (1-to-5 scale, where 1 is very important). The 2011 symposium received attention from The Produce News, The Packer, Grocery Headquarters, Produce Retailer, PerishableNews.com, and Supermarket News.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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