2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Prior to 2014, when an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes found on Gala and Granny Smith apples packed by a California supplier caused major market disruptions, the Washington tree fruit industry had not experienced food safety outbreaks associated with their whole, fresh produce. Outbreak investigations at the California packing facility revealed insufficient cleaning and sanitation of direct contact surfaces, resulting in the development of niches and harborage areas for Listeria monocytogenes.

As an immediate response, the Pacific Northwest tree fruit industry demanded specialized training on the proper cleaning and sanitation procedures for their facilities. Several industry organizations, namely the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, the Northwest Horticultural Council, Washington State University, and the Washington State Tree Fruit Association collaborated to develop a workshop series for sanitation supervisors, packing line managers and sanitation lead personnel called “Cleaning and Sanitation: Putting Principles into Practice”. These workshops were developed with a combination of classroom presentations and physical demonstrations of effective cleaning and sanitation practices in commercial apple, pear and cherry packing lines. The classroom presentations included an overview of Listeria risk and the importance of cleaning and sanitation. The demonstrations were led by industry experts and performed by sanitation crew members from packing facilities. The training included a) how to use appropriate personal protective equipment, b) tools and materials to thoroughly clean and c) how to sanitize different parts of industry-specific equipment. The presentations in the packing facility were offered in both English and Spanish.

An advanced version of these workshops was later organized to train tree fruit industry food safety specialists on environmental monitoring techniques to verify the efficacy of cleaning and sanitation practices in the packinghouse. This workshop also incorporated classroom and hands-on education. Topics covered during the classroom presentations included the importance of environmental monitoring (EM), current EM techniques used, facility mapping and hygienic zoning. The demonstrations were performed in a commercial cherry packing line with the help of food safety and industry experts.

Key impacts of all workshops to date include, but are not limited to: increased communication between competing organizations (facilities opened doors to direct competitors to share their processes and expertise), active collaboration between industry members (coffee/discussion groups were formed to exchange ideas), expanded research programs, strengthened industry cooperation with food safety research, involvement of the tree fruit industry in food safety meetings and forums (including other industries), and creation of Listeria-specific food safety committees.