Food Safety Concerns of Tropical Fruits and Vegetables

Food safety of fresh fruits and vegetables has come under scrutiny in the past decade, with several widely publicized outbreaks resulting in reduced consumer confidence in these highly nutritious foods.  A 2011 Salmonella outbreak linked to papayas demonstrates that tropical fruits and vegetables are not immune to these issues.  For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has indicated an intent to propose regulations for the safe production and handling of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Concurrently, an FDA intent to propose regulations for Foreign Supplier Verification means that fresh produce growers and handlers that export to the U.S. will be held to the same regulatory food safety standards as U.S. operations.  Without a process step that can be validated to eliminate any contaminating pathogens, fresh produce relies on prevention of contamination as the primary means of achieving safety. This is made more difficult by the produce generally being grown outdoors, where several risk factors for contamination cannot be completely controlled. Nevertheless, the fresh produce industry has developed guidelines and audit standards to help growers and handlers minimize these potential risks. How these standards, guidelines, and potential regulations will affect and can aid tropical produce growers and handlers will be discussed.