California cantaloupe growers are all in for food safety audits, marketing order
California cantaloupe growers have unanimously voted to participate in the state’s first food safety program to be implemented by a commodity board.
Until now, California state marketing orders have been utilized for branding, marketing and promotion. Cantaloupe growers from Bakersfield north had been participating in a regional marketing order of their own, which included voluntary participation in adhering to a set of safety standards, including traceback procedures, that go back a decade, if not longer.
Now the marketing order applies statewide, and includes mandatory food safety audits.
“What we actually did in this vote is, we took this regional marketing order and converted it to a statewide order so it applies to any and all cantaloupes grown anywhere in California,” said Steve Patricio, chairman of the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board. “And we asked that the group put food safety as a mandatory priority.”
Previously, 2/3 of the 30 million 40-lb. cartons of cantaloupes produced in California were assessed 1.5 cents each to fund the old marketing order. Now, 100 percent of the cartons will be assessed around 3.5 cents to cover costs, which include having the California Department of Food and Agriculture taking over enforcement of inspections.
“People have their own internal costs, too,” Patricio said. “So it’s going to cost the grower-packer-shippers probably collectively 25 to 30 cents a carton.”
But Patricio said it’s worth every penny. While California’s cantaloupes have not been involved in foodborne illness outbreaks, the entire industry was tarnished by last fall’s deadly listeria outbreak traced to cantaloupes grown in Colorado.
“People have said … ‘Well, you’ve never had a foodborne illness, why are you doing this?'” Patricio said. “We are doing this because it’s the right thing to do.”
In fact, Patricio said that California cantaloupe handlers, who represent 70 percent of the cantaloupes grown in the U.S., have been pioneering safe handling and processing practices for the last two decades. Most recently, the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board collaborated with researchers led by Trevor Suslow, Ph.D., at the University of California, Davis. That led to the development of best practices in 2003 that continue to guide California’s growers today.
“Without any teeth or mandatory nature, most everybody implemented what he recommended,” Patricio said. “We disseminated the information to all of the growers and packers.”
Patricio said California’s best practices were also sent to FDA as it developed its first commodity-specific guidance. The FDA ended up adopting what Patricio said was a “watered-down” version of Suslow’s recommendations in 2005, updating it in 2009.
“But in my opinion, it was never as good as ours in 2003,” he said.
Patricio expects that California’s cantaloupe industry will utilize the same USDA-trained state auditors who work with the state’s Leafy Greens Product Handler Marketing Agreement. Since 2007, most of the state’s leafy greens growers have participated in mandatory audits based on an agreed-upon set of food safety practices.
“All of our guys are saying the same thing,” he said. “We’re going to take this and follow the Leafy Greens model that worked so well.”
And the growers’ willingness to do that shows their commitment to public safety, he said.
“The tragedy in Colorado is just that,” Patricio said. “Nobody should have to worry about their food.
“The people involved – they didn’t know, and they screwed up, and it’s tragic.”
It’s a tragedy California growers want to avoid at all costs, he said.
“The fact we’re going to have random audits and unannounced audits, and people coming in to evaluate what we’re doing? We’re saying, ‘Come on in. We’re proud of what we do,'” Patricio said. “And if somebody finds something, we’re going to correct it.”
