The United
Fresh Research & Education Foundation announced
today that it will host a public forum for the analysis and critical review of
the Food and Drug Administration’s Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, also known as the GAPs Guide,
February 24 and 25 at the Hilton Washington Dulles Airport in Herndon, Va. Registration
is now open for the meeting, which is in response to FDA’s plan to revise
the decade-old Guide.
A focal point of the meeting will
be the opportunity for those responsible for the safety of fruits and vegetables
to talk about today’s Good Agricultural Practices " what works for them, what
doesn’t, what would make the GAPs better and what should FDA stay away from.
Comments will be collected and submitted to FDA for their consideration. Changes
to the Guide will affect both growers and shippers of all fresh produce
commodities, most of which have not been heard in comments to FDA.
“United Fresh has established this meeting
in order to hear from all stakeholders within our diverse industry. Be they
root, row, bush or tree crops;
growers of asparagus and apples to watermelons and zucchini as well as
operations large and small across the U.S. and
abroad,” said United
Fresh Senior Vice President of Food Safety and
Technology Dr. David Gombas. “To put it bluntly, guidelines and GAPs that govern
an industry comprised of hundreds of unique commodities are being edited and
updated based on the comments of only a small handful of individuals. This
meeting is designed to collect detailed input from all areas of the fresh
produce industry, no matter the commodity, and particularly from those
responsible for food safety programs for production and harvest
operations.”
The meeting will begin with
presentations on the origin of the current GAPs Guide, as well as how the
current Guide has been used and adapted for regulatory and industry purposes.
United Fresh
will explore benefits and obstacles presented by the Guide from the perspective
of both auditors and educators. Presentations will be followed by several
concurrent breakout sessions of all attendees, with each breakout providing a
series of related questions to discuss covering the different perspectives of
how the GAPs Guide and its use can be improved. Questions to be addressed will
include:
- Do companies’ food safety plans
have to be written?
- What changes would make the GAPs
easier to adopt?
- Should GAPs be mandatory for all
operations?
The meeting will reconvene the
following morning for reports by the group leaders on what transpired and what
recommendations were handed down from their groups. These comments will be
collected and submitted to FDA for their
consideration.
This is a public meeting; all
stakeholders are welcome. The registration fee is $95, and small operations are
particularly encouraged to attend. Registration and hotel information can be
found here
or by contacting Julie Jacocks at 202-303-3400 ext.
405
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