Some 300 stakeholders meeting at the United Fresh Global Conference on Produce Food Safety Standards last week in Las Vegas began to forge a common industry mission to drive toward harmonization of produce industry audit standards.  "This conference provided a framework for consensus from grower through retailer and foodservice on the need to drive harmonization and benchmarking of audits," said Dr. David Gombas, senior vice president for food safety and technology.  "I was frankly gratified at the breadth of participation by leading companies throughout the supply chain, and their depth of commitment to this goal," he said.  The conference was sponsored by Chiquita/Fresh Express and the Dole Food Company.

Attendees heard from representatives of 16 auditing bodies and standard owners in a side-by-side forum, giving rise to the conclusion that despite all the different food safety standards, actual practices required are more than 90% the same.  In breakout groups, attendees had robust discussions on ways the industry can move forward on reducing the audit burden, while enabling better information on the reliability of suppliers. 

"This conference was a major step forward in the process of working to harmonize food safety standards and audits," said United Fresh Chairman Jim Lemke, C.H. Robinson.  In closing remarks at the conference, Lemke said that the United Fresh Board and leadership is committed to moving this agenda forward, and will reach out to all allied association partners and individual companies to come to the table to work toward a common goal of uniform standards.

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Gombas added, "We need to work toward science-based standards that make sense for the industry, that auditors can use in a consistent manner, that inform customers about the important aspects of their suppliers, and that rebuild consumer confidence in the safety of fresh produce." The Global Conference presentations and proceedings will be available in the coming weeks on the United Fresh website.