AMI launches food safety effort.

At the direction of the Board of Directors, AMI has begun a major effort to assist its grower members in the development of a comprehensive food safety plan whereby all fresh mushrooms sold in the United States are produced on farms that are certified to have followed an industry standard of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).

In mid-May, 26 representatives from farms, packing houses, Drs. Luke LaBorde and Bob Beelman from Penn State, Dr. Sergio Nieto Montenegro of Hispanic Workforce Management (HWM) and AMI staff participated in a day-long meeting, which resulted in the following:

Good Agricultural Practices

The group reviewed, line-by-line, the 36 specifics under the 14 Standards of Good Agricultural Practices developed in 2005 by Penn State and AMI in an effort to "standardize the standard." The concept of an industry-wide, agreed upon set of good agricultural practices was adopted. There is recognition that farms may achieve these standards in different ways, depending on their particular circumstances.

Food Safety Training Kit (FSTK)

The group supported development of a FSTK developed by HWM and reviewed by Penn State, with AMI providing funding. It would be a generic kit that could be used by all farms or modified to meet an individual farm's specific needs. The FSTK will be a critical component to provide training to workers required under a GAP program. The FSTK will be available in October, and AMI will provide train-the-trainer sessions for grower members.

Audits

A single audit, based off the GAPs agreed upon by the group, will be developed, along with the guidelines, forms and checklists required for GAP implementation and certification.

The Task Force recommendations were presented to the AMI Board at its meeting on June 10, 2007 and approved. The Task Force and AMI plan to hold a conference call with all handlers of mushrooms sold in the United States to outline the food safety plan as well as extensive meetings and training sessions with farm owners, managers and employees.

Mushroom Council Changes included in House-passed Farm Bill

Also at the direction of the Board of Directors, AMI staff worked with Congress to amend the Fresh Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 (the law establishing the Mushroom Council) to allow the Council to establish a food safety program as part of its duties.

Penn State Provides Expertise

AMI and Penn State have a long history of working on food safety-related issues. In 1999, Penn State University, in conjunction with AMI, offered workshops entitled "Mushroom HACCP Workshop--Managing Risks to Ensure Safe Food Supplies." The purpose of the workshops was to assist growers and packers of fresh mushroom in developing and implementing food safety plans based on established Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles.

The workshops incorporated a set of guidelines for identification and control of potential food safety hazards in mushroom growing and packing operations developed by Penn State and AMI members. These eventually evolved into "Guidelines for Developing a Mushroom Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Program--Food Safety Standards for Growing Fresh Mushrooms--Compost Preparation to Product Shipping." Its standards and procedures form the basis for the food safety programs that exist in mushroom operations today.

A Changing Food Safety Dynamic

In response to the E. coli outbreaks in spinach, the leafy greens industry in California developed a marketing agreement under which practically all purchasers of leafy greens have agreed to buy only from growers who are certified to have followed certain production guidelines. As noted in the accompanying article, Food Safety's Costs, the Florida Tomato Committe has established a similar program. This approach has been suggested for the mushroom industry--either as a voluntary or mandatory effort.

The AMI Board recognized that before a mushroom buyer (the packer/shipper) can demand that a mushroom grower follow certain production guidelines, those guidelines (or potentially, requirements) need to be established. Then, an education and training program has to be put in place in order for the mushroom farm and its employees to learn how to comply with these requirements. Next, a method for verification of compliance must be established.

Each of these steps poses a range of questions which the mushroom industry (growers and packer/shippers) must jointly address. But regardless of whether individual buyers make decisions to buy only from GAP-certified growers, AMI is fulfilling its responsibility to promote an industry-wide initiative toward total GAP compliance at the farm and packing house level.

Laura Phelps, AMI President

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