New workshops to cover listeria control

Multiple produce organizations are inviting companies from across the fresh produce supply chain to learn strategies to control and prevent Listeria monocytogenes. The newly-announced workshops will be held Sept. 11-12 in Fresno, California, and Sept. 13-14 in Monterey/Seaside, California. The workshops are hosted jointly by Produce Marketing Association (PMA), United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh) and Western Growers, with additional support from the California Fresh Fruit Association at the Fresno venue.

The produce-specific, hands-on workshops last one and a half days, and will cover topics including sanitary design, sanitation best practices and environmental monitoring. Instructors will include experts from industry, industry trade groups, academia and government, and will emphasize practical solutions for managing listeria in fresh produce. Scheduled speakers include sanitary design specialists from Birko, Ecolab and Heinzen Manufacturing International; produce safety expert Trevor Suslow, from University of California at Davis; as well as association food safety leads Bob Whitaker, from PMA, Jennifer McEntire, from United Fresh, and Sonia Salas from Western Growers. Consumer Safety Officer Don Kautter will represent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Both workshops will employ a combination of breakout sessions, panel discussions, case studies and other learning formats. The first day will conclude with a networking reception at which attendees can engage with each other, with speakers and with exhibitors.

The workshops are designed specifically for fresh produce growers, packers, shippers, processors and retailers.

“Preventive controls to significantly reduce or eliminate listeria is a big challenge in the processing plant environment,” said Tom Lovelace, executive vice president of McEntire Produce. “Our team at McEntire Produce has found the listeria workshop to be a valuable tool to better understand the complexity in managing listeria and providing practical solutions we can use in our operation.”

For more information and to register for a workshop, visit the United Fresh, PMA or Western Growers websites. The registration fee is $750 for members of any of the supporting associations, and $995 for nonmembers. For additional listeria resources, see United Fresh’s listeria guidance and PMA’s listeria resource page.