The challenges for the fresh produce industry are in identifying the risks in the growing, harvesting, packing and shipping of these items, and then taking a combination of preventive measures that reduces those risks to the next user to some measurable level. The new research pointed out in Bill Marler's blog found below, is useful, but the industry response will take some time, given the nature of the industry and what it has traditionally seen as risk.
Operations under third party standards are required to monitor for these hazards and not harvest areas with obvious signs of animal intrusion. That procedure if rigorously done limits the wide scale fecal contamination problem but does not eliminate it. Handling thereafter must be sanitary. Packers that do not wash melons can do little to remove contamination. Buyers drive this model, and many will accept raw agricultural products that have not had a washing step, leaving the consumer hard pressed to defend themselves.
Farmers know that wild animals are a major concern in melon operations; they consume and destroy a significant amount of crops. Deer, pigs, raccoons, as well as birds are attracted to these growing and harvesting areas. While growers may not have absolute control over access to the growing areas, harvesting methods must account for contamination found. However, washing in a large packinghouse is itself hazardous. During washing, if antimicrobial quality of wash water is not maintained, water becomes a vehicle to further spread contamination between lots. Diligent control of wash water quality is often a critical control in a food safety program for this reason.
We may not be able to eliminate the pathogens in melons at any one stage of the production system, thus calling for a coordinated effort between growers, handlers, shippers and end users. We need to strengthen the weak links in this chain to the extent we can, and combine that effort with effective microbiological testing, recall procedures and oversight.
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