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CHC tree, vine fruit food safety program passes review

March 28, 2008, Ottawa, Ont. – The
national On-Farm Food Safety (OFFS) program for producers, storage
facilities and packers of tree and vine fruit recently completed a
government review process and is now being endorsed by a team of
technical experts with the federal and provincial governments.

March 28, 2008, Ottawa, Ont. – The national On-Farm Food Safety (OFFS) program for producers, storage facilities and packers of tree and vine fruit recently completed a government review process and is now being endorsed by a team of technical experts with the federal and provincial governments.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) presented the Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC), who developed the food safety program, with a letter of completion in early March.

“This is great news for Canadian tree and vine fruit producers who are implementing our program on their farms,” said Heather Gale, food safety coordinator for CHC. “(This) shows that our program is technically sound and based on the best available science, and that producers are proactively reducing the risk of contamination of fresh produce.”

The OFFS program provides members of the horticultural industry with tools to help producers document their actions and take steps to address food safety on the farm. The program includes a series of crop-specific procedural manuals ready for producers to implement. The manuals are based on a comprehensive hazard analysis that uses the HACCP (hazard analysis critical control points) approach.

Work is also underway to develop application software to provide producers with an electronic version of the manual.

Copies of the program are being sent to provincial tree and vine fruit organizations.

For more information or to order manuals, visit www.hortcouncil.ca/FShome.htm .