Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/622402
www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower JANUARY 15, 2016 11 Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Consumer Services Division, used the tour as an opportunity to look for areas to target research funding. "If there are preventive steps that can control avenues of concern, we want to look at those, rather than have some go to extreme steps of changing out equipment when it might not be necessary," she said. The group visited Monson Fruit Company in Selah, Washington. Glass joined the company's regulatory compliance manager, Rick Beecroft, in a discussion about specific areas of the apple packing line that could pose risks for Listeria contamination, including a belt that carries apples through the dryer. Glass recommended adding temperature sensors to the rollers to determine if the temperature is high enough — and the length of time long enough — to kill bacteria on the belt and on the product, as has been done at some other food processing companies. If nothing else, she said, the area should be swabbed and tested in the morning and evening each day. Beecroft liked the idea of adding a heat monitor. "We know this is a process that's a certain risk," he said. "That would be something that we may investigate further and pursue." Glass said it's clear the industry is stepping up its efforts in the food safety arena and in environmental testing, which is the best way to determine if there's an area of concern. The problem is knowing if disinfectants are as effective as hoped. "We have to try things that have been done elsewhere and apply things in different ways," she said. "It's a tough, tough thing, because they don't have a great kill step. We don't have any magic at this point, and more research is needed." That said, Glass added that the industry has made some phenomenal changes in terms of cleaning, sanitation, environmental testing and monitoring in the past 10 months. "We have to walk before we run, but we have to start somewhere, and the industry really is working hard," she said. "It's not the end." • 1-800-250-5024 • www.CertisUSA.com Recommendations: Cueva, Kocide Integrated copper solutions for season- long fire blight and summer disease control Double Nickel Broad spectrum foliar powdery mildew and fire blight disease control OSO FRAC 19 fungicide for summer diseases and post-harvest protection CYD-X HP, Madex HP Codling moth and Oriental fruit moth control PFR-97 Broad spectrum insecticide and miticide Neemix Insect growth regulator for psyllid control Deliver Bt for leafroller larvae control Screen Duo For sunburn protection and heat stress reduction Diseases and Pests: Fire blight Codling moth, Oriental fruit moth Powdery mildew Psyllids, aphids, mites, leafrollers Summer diseases and post-harvest rots Biopesticides. Short REIs and zero days to harvest. Resistance and residue management. Application flexibility. Better harvest management and timely shipping. Screen Duo is a registered trademark of Crop Microclimate Management Inc. Cueva is a registered trademark W. Neudorff GmbH KG. Kocide is a registered trademark of Kocide LLC. All others are registered trademarks of Certis USA LLC. ©2016 Certis USA A CM CM CM De De J PFR PFR CX CX G Ma Ma DX DX DX BNS BNS BNS Se Se Se SL SL SL Nx Nx DN DN O SG SG SG Cu Cu R K2 K2 K3 K3 MK MK MK Tr Tr Tr SM SM SM MC MC MC FSO FSO FSO SD SD CON