The 2010 ASHS Annual Conference

Objective(s):
This workshop will introduce attendees to: 1) the food safety issues faced by the modern tree nut industries and 2) current research efforts to reduce food safety risks associated with tree nut products along the entire food production chain from the orchard to the consumer.

At a time when cropping acreage and markets of US tree nut industries are rapidly growing, widespread food safety issues have drawn increased attention.  In particular, several highly-publicized national food recalls due to detection of dangerous microbial contamination have prompted increased concern among consumers, food producers and processors, and government regulatory agencies globally.  The majority of these recalls have involved vegetable or meat products; nevertheless, a few major recent recalls have involved tree nut crops or peanuts contaminated by Salmonella.  Even if no consumers are sickened by a contaminated food, the potential long-term negative economic impact of a high publicity food recall can be overwhelming for an industry as it works to regain consumer confidence in the safety of its product.   In this workshop expert speakers from both academia and industry will explain the food safety issues faced by modern tree nut industries and describe research efforts underway to reduce risk of contamination of tree nut products in the orchard, as well as during harvest and processing.