Good Farmer’s Market Practices

1. Good Farmer’s Market Practices Manager and Vendor Specific

2. Food Safety Principles Session One • Overview • Factors contributing to foodborne illness • Food commodities • What bacteria need to grow • Viruses • Food safety culture

3. Food Safety Culture • Know the risks associated with the products or meals produced • Know why managing the risks is important • Effectively manage potential risks • Tools • Messages • Information • Compelling messages Powell et al., 2011

4. Food Safety Culture • Support for scientifically validated safe food-handling behaviors • Food safety equals behavior • Thought and behavior • Application through management and communication • Saving money happens through food safety culture • Food safety tells a story and is a selling point Powell et al., 2011

5. What Is Food Safety? Handling Preparation Storage AVOID FOODBORNE ILLNESS

6. What Are We Dealing With? • Preventing contamination • Destroying harmful microorganisms • Limiting the growth of harmful microorganisms

7. Foodborne Illness In The US • 47.8 Million episodes of foodborne illness • 127,839 Hospitalizations • 3,037 Deaths -in- Scallan et al., 2011

8. Major Pathogens • Norovirus • Campylobacter • Salmonella • Clostridium perfringens • Staphylococcus • E. coli O157 • Shigella • Listeria monocytogenes • Hepatitis A • Giardia lamblia

9. Symptoms Of Foodborne Illness Fever Muscle aches Loss of appetite Vomiting Fatigue Chills Nausea Headaches Jaundice Dark urine Abdominal cramps Diarrhea (may be bloody)

10. Protecting Real People Travis Cudney 2010 Champion Child Blind since age 2 Complications from a pathogenic E. coli infection 22 year-old Stephanie Smith “I ask myself every day, ‘Why me?’ and ‘Why from a hamburger?

11. Farmer’s Market Outbreak • In 2000, Escherichia coli O157:H7 linked to produce samples offered at a farmer’s market in Fort Collins, CO • 14 People were ill and two elementary school-aged children required dialysis

12. Farmer’s Market Outbreak • In 2010, Salmonella linked to guacamole, salsa and uncooked tamales at a farmer’s market in east-central Iowa • 44 People sick and five hospitalized

13. Farmer’s Market Outbreak • In 2011, Escherichia coli O157:H7 linked to strawberries sold at multiple farm stands and farmer’s markets in Oregon • 12 Females and four males became ill • 4 Individuals were hospitalized and 2 people suffered kidney failure

14. Fruit & Vegetable Outbreaks • Escherichia coli O157:H7 • Lettuce • Unpasteurized juices • Salmonella • Melons • Cryptosporidium • Berries • Listeria • Cole slaw Gast et al., 1997

15. Food Commodities • Seafood • Fin fish, shellfish, crabs/crustaceans, etc. • Animal meats • Beef, poultry, pork, game, etc. • Produce • Fruits and vegetables • Grains & nuts • Cereal, nut meats, etc. • Eggs • Processed foods • Frozen, fresh, canned, etc. • Dairy • Fluid milk, cheese, yogurt, confections, etc.

16. Food Safety Hazard Categories • Physical • Chemical • Biological

17. Physical Hazards • Object or foreign matter in a food item • May cause illness or injury to a person consuming the product • Sources • Raw materials • Badly maintained facilities & equipment • Improper production procedures • Poor employee practices • Examples • Bone • Metal flakes • Stones • Glass • Wood fragments • Insects

18. Chemical Hazards • Toxic substances in a food item • May cause food to be unsafe to consume • Examples and Sources • Pesticides • Fertilizers • Antibiotics • Hormones • Nitrates • Lubricants • Paint • Cleaners • Sanitizers

19. Biological Hazards • Microorganisms that cause foodborne illness • Examples and Sources • Parasites • Viruses • Bacteria

20. Top Five Factors Responsible For Foodborne Illness Outbreaks • Improper hot/cold holding temperatures of potentially hazardous food • Improper cooking temperatures of food • Dirty and/or contaminated utensils and equipment • Poor employee health and hygiene • Food from unsafe sources CDC

21. High Risk Populations (YOPIs) • Pregnant • Immunocompromised naturally • Immunocompromised • AIDS, chemotherapy, transplants, external stress • Very young • Underdeveloped • Very old • Decreased immune function

22. What Bacteria Need To Grow • Temperature • pH • Organic acids • Oxygen • Water activity • Other factors: • Inhibitors • Nutrients • Competition It is important to understand that ALL of these factors are important and ALL play into the safety of a food product

23. Temperature • Time and temperature control for bacterial growth • Temperature Danger Zone • Hold hot food above 135°F • Hold cold food below 41° • Temperature Abuse • Foods not heated to a safe temperature or kept at a safe temperature

24. Temperature Abuse

25. Available Oxygen • Oxygen availability affects bacterial growth • Aerobic: bacteria require oxygen in order to grow • Anaerobic: bacteria cannot survive in oxygen

26. pH • Designates the level of acidity of a food product • pH ranges from 0 to 14 • Acid: 0 to 7 • High acid foods have a pH at or below 4.6 • Slows the rate of bacterial growth • Disease-causing bacteria grow best at a pH between 4.6 to 7 • Alkaline: 7 to 14

27. Low-Acid Foods

28. Organic Acid • Used to control the entry & growth of microorganisms • Usually added or produced • Add: preservative • Produced: fermentation • Examples • Acetic • Propionic • Citric • Benzoic • Ascorbic

29. Water Activity • Measure of the amount of water not bound to a food and available for bacterial growth • Water Activity ranges from 0 to 1 • Pure water has a water activity of 1 • Disease causing bacteria grown in foods that have a water activity of 0.85 • Yeasts & molds can grow on food products that have a water activity as low as 0.75

30. Viruses • Smaller than bacteria • Require a host to grow and reproduce • Human or animal • Do not multiply in food • Examples • Hepatitis A virus • Norwalk virus • Rotavirus • Effects • Temperature • Disinfection • pH • Hygiene control • Human element • Handling

31. Norovirus

32. What Specific Foods Cause Illness? What people thought: • 1: Chicken • 2: Meats • 3: Ground meats • 4: Fin fish • 5: Shellfish Environics, 2005 What actual causes illness: • 1: Produce • 2: Poultry • 3: Beef • 4: Eggs • 5: Seafood CDC, 2009

33. What Foods Cause Illness? • ANY FOOD can cause foodborne illness • Foods classified as potentially hazardous have a greater possibility of supporting the growth of harmful bacteria and causing illness

34. Potentially Hazardous Foods • Allow for rapid progression & growth of pathogens • Examples • These products must be kept at proper temperatures • Dairy products • Meat • Poultry • Game animals • Seafood • Eggs • Leafy greens • Sliced melons • Raw sprouts • Cut tomatoes • Tofu • Garlic-in-oil mixtures

35. Potentially Hazardous Foods • Potentially hazardous food characteristics • High in protein or carbohydrate • Low acid

36. Low Acid Foods • Any food with: • pH greater than 4.6 • Water activity greater than 0.85 • Examples: • Red meat • Seafood • Poultry • Milk • Fresh vegetables

37. Ready-To-Eat Foods • Foods that do not need any further processing or cooking for safety • Examples: • Salad • Fruits • Vegetables • Baked goods • Nuts • Spices • Fermented sausage • Deli meats

38. Legal Requirements For Specific Foods • Know requirements to legally sell foods • More importantly: • Know food safety precautions • Labeling • Certifications • Classes (i.e.: GAPs, Acidified Foods School)

39. Labeling • Current labeling regulations: • All food products in package form must conform to required label information • Product name • Net weight • Ingredient listing • Manufacturer/distributor name and address • Nutrition information • Some food product labels may also be required to have product coding and other statements related to product storage

40. Acidified Foods Better Process Control School • Processing acidified foods • Certified supervisor • Adequate pH, time, and temperature • What is an acidified food? • A food, usually a vegetable, which is preserved by an acid, such as vinegar • Why? • Processes for rendering the product safe • Inhibit the presence of dangerous microorganisms • Example: Clostridium botulinum • When? • 2+ times per year in North Carolina Check out: http://www.ncagr.gov/fooddrug/food/homebiz.htm

41. Say Something

42. Team Commitment

43. Food Safety Principles Questions

44. Personnel Health & Hygiene Session Two • Training program • Communication • Supervision • Proper handwashing techniques • Sanitizers & One-use gloves • Open wounds • Restroom use • Clothing and cleanliness

45. Coding System -- Responsibility V: Vendor Specific M: Manager specific

46. Top Five Factors Responsible For Foodborne Illness Outbreaks • Improper hot/cold holding temperatures of potentially hazardous food • Improper cooking temperatures of food • Dirty and/or contaminated utensils and equipment • Poor employee health and hygiene • Food from unsafe sources CDC

47. Training Program • Understand food safety culture • Responsibility • Consequence of action OR no action • Reason, understand, protect Powell et al., 2011

48. Communication • Effectively manage potential risks • Tools • Messages • Information • Compelling messages • Food safety equals behavior • Thought and behavior • Application through management and communication Powell et al., 2011

49. Restroom Facilities • Restrooms with handwashing facilities should be available within 200 feet of the market • General considerations • Accessibility needs • Children • Handicapped persons M

50. Restroom Facilities • Restroom not to be used for storage of food, equipment, or supplies • Clean toilet facilities • Toilet rooms separated from other areas • Toilet paper provided in a permanently installed dispenser at each toilet • Handwashing facilities • Near toilet rooms M