Washing Produce – Food Code Style
With the increase in farm-to-school and farm-to-table programs in the last 10 years, my food safety colleagues and I are often asked about the safety of fresh produce. When I completed my first food safety class in college 20 years ago (ok, maybe a tad bit longer…), I don’t recall produce in any form being the focus of much discussion. Raw and ground beef? Yes. Undercooked pork? Absolutely. Sushi? You bet! However, fresh fruits and vegetables were not the focus of much conversation. In fact, many of you, like me, may have grown up eating fresh vegetables straight from the garden without a second thought.
However, when you start to look at the data related to actual foodborne illness outbreaks, it is understandable why the focus on produce has shifted over the years. Outbreaks associated with produce accounted for less than 1% of all outbreaks in the 1970s, increasing to over 6% in the 1990s, and almost 10% around 2015. During this time, not only did the number of produce-related outbreaks increase, so did the number of deaths associated with each outbreak and the geographic area that these outbreaks impacted, resulting in several multi-state outbreaks.
While some of the increase can be traced back to better surveillance methods, other potential reasons for the increase in produce-related outbreaks include the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, the increased frequency that consumers dined away from home, the ability to ship product further from the original grower, the increasingly complex food distribution system (for more information about our complex food distribution system, check out the archived July SafeBites Webinar on Food Traceability), and the increased use of ready-prepared fresh-cut produce.
The cause of outbreaks have been traced back to many different sources. From irrigation source to the food handler in an upscale foodservice operation, mistakes made pre-harvest, during harvest, or post-harvest can have a profound impact on the safety and quality of food. Implicated in these outbreaks have been a wide variety of pathogens, including Cyclospora, S. enterica, Aeromonas spp., Bacillus cereus, Hepatitis A, E. coli., Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella spp., among several others.
Because of the mixed messages surrounding produce, along with the many sources of contamination and implicated pathogens, food handlers are often confused as to how to properly wash fresh produce. This is one of the most common questions we receive from food handlers.
Before commencing the washing process, it is important to note the food handlers should thoroughly wash their hands. Often, the food handler has just returned to the kitchen with the case of produce when they start the washing process, not fully appreciating they just contaminated their hands on the cooler door, the exterior of the box of produce they are carrying, or any number of surfaces between the cooler and their workspace.
In starting the cleaning process, remove any broken or bruised areas of the produce. Often, these broken or bruised areas, along with other cracks, scars, or cuts can harbor bacteria and allow the produce to internalize bacteria, which is often impossible to remove in the washing process.
Outbreaks associated with produce accounted for less than 1% of all outbreaks in the 1970s, increasing to almost 10% around 2015. With the many sources of contamination and implicated pathogens, food handlers are often confused as to how to properly wash fresh produce for service.
To further reduce the likelihood of the produce internalizing bacteria, wash using water that is 10°F warmer than the produce itself. Use running water and avoid soaking or submerging in the water; standing water only provides more opportunity for the produce to internalize bacteria and increases the chances of contaminating the water itself.
Use a vegetable brush on fruits and vegetables that can withstand the scrubbing. This includes cucumbers, potatoes, citrus fruits, cantaloupe, watermelon, beets, and carrots.
The decision to use a fruit and vegetable wash is ultimately up to the managers and employees of a foodservice operation. This decision includes many considerations, including cost of the wash and the pathogenic reduction you are able to realize by using the treatment. The Food Code does not mandate or endorse the use of any chemical to wash fruits and vegetables, only requiring potable running water. The FDA has gone as far as stating that there is no need to use a produce wash, and has further elaborated that the safety of the residues resulting from these washes have not been tested nor standardized. However, several studies, including one we completed at the Center for Food Safety in Child Nutrition Programs at Kansas State noted agitation and wash treatments, including vinegar reduced pathogenic load on the produce. Other studies have noted that water was just as effective and nearly all studies have failed to note if any reduction of pathogens actually reduced the pathogenic load below what would be required for infection, should someone consume the produce. It is important to note any chemical you decide to use should meet food code requirements (see 2017 Food Code, Section 7-204.12, p. 198), and you should use no more than recommended by the manufacturer.
As Dr. Strohbehn and I discussed last summer around this time in our blog, do not wash pre-cut lettuce and bagged salads if it is received “ready-to-eat”, “washed”, or triple washed”. If a microorganism survived the commercial washing process, it is extremely doubtful that you will reduce the microbial load to a safer level in the foodservice operation. In most cases, there is a greater risk of cross contamination during the washing process than if product was used straight from the bag.
As you think about your produce washing procedures and contemplating methods change the habits of your employees, plan to attend the next SafeBites Webinar on September 15, 2021 at 1:00 pm. We will have Dr. Kevin Sauer, professor of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics, and Health at Kansas State University and president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics join us to discuss using stories to change behaviors of foodservice employees. In the meantime, feel free to reach out with any food safety questions you have, and we will research the answer and get back to you. Risk Nothing.
Developing Good Food Safety Habits
Good habits and habit development are something that has fascinated me for several years. If you’ve attended any the training programs or presentations that my colleagues and I have conducted through our Center for Food Safety in Child Nutrition Programs, you’ve likely heard me opine about the importance of habits and how habits are created. Many times, in foodservice operations we wonder why our staff don’t follow the food safety practices we have established in our operation. Perhaps they don’t wash their hands when they are required, perhaps they just don’t use the proper method of handwashing, or perhaps we find that they don’t complete our HACCP logs as often as our program dictates should occur. And while we can stomp our feet and say “it is their job, they should just do it”, it really isn’t that simple. We can’t order people to change, although if we could, business and human resources would be so much simpler.
Getting Your Playbook for Food Safety Organized
As anyone who has ever worked in a foodservice operation knows, from the time food is received in your establishment to the time it is served to your customers, following proper food safety practices is crucial. What many don’t often think about is this time really should extend from the time the manager places their orders with their suppliers (including which purveyors you utilize), through the time the food is consumed – even if that consumption occurs off your premises and days after the original order was picked up by the guest. This is something that has certainly been highlighted by the pandemic as customers across the nation are utilizing take-out, curbside to go, and third-party delivery options more so now than ever before.
Getting Started with Building the Infrastructure
Hopefully in our first January blog, we convinced you of the importance of establishing an infrastructure within your operation to support a safe food culture. So, how does one go about doing this? Well, like any major project, break it into small bites. In our opinion, having a written guide for employees that documents expectations related to food safety basics of employee health and hygiene, temperature controls, and cleaning and sanitizing is the first step. Having this documentation serves as a reference for training and helps fulfill the mission of most foodservice operators which is to serve safe, quality food.
Food Safety Resolutions for the New Year
Finally, 2020 is in our rearview mirror and we can all turn the page to 2021! Resolutions for the new year might be more of the same from prior years (lose weight, exercise more, less screen time, etc.) OR you may have identified new practices to implement in your operation. If the latter, likely goals included some practices related to food safety – especially given the turmoil of 2020 and heightened concern by customers. It is our philosophy that attention to safe food handling practices is a win-win for any operation because of the direct relationship between food safety and food quality, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction. This past year has also demonstrated that attention to safety can affect the bottom line. Thus, the topic of our first SafeBites webinar for 2021 is on the topic of the return on investment of food safety, it is scheduled for January 20, so register now and please plan to attend.
