Produce Industry participates in meeting to revise 10-year-old GAP guidelines

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