Damien Farrelly
CEO, Fresh Produce Safety Centre
ceo@fpsc-anz.com
The potential food safety risks from flooding were significant given the scale of the event, level of contamination in floodwaters, and proximity to harvest for many crops. While guidelines exist on food safety risk management for flooding, they were not readily available, shared or adopted to support growers with readiness or response after the event. Businesses and the community understandably were very focused on the human and economic impacts of the cyclone, thus food safety was not necessarily front of mind for everyone. There was a fragmented approach to addressing food safety risks with individual product groups, regulators, industry and retailers generally tackling the issues separately. This meant that there was a lack of centralised collaboration and communication among key stakeholders in this time of greatest need.
In the immediate aftermath, New Zealand Food Safety developed Guidance for harvesting flood-affected produce for human consumption in collaboration with industry stakeholders like Horticulture New Zealand. There was push back from industry on the scientific justification within the guidelines (e.g. buffers), and the mandatory nature of guidelines given they were developed by the regulator. Product specific guidelines were also developed by industry (e.g. for apples and kiwifruit) based on existing science and new research trials undertaken in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.
Consumers were warned not to consume produce that had floated off-farm in floodwaters, and concerns were raised that some flood impacted produce had made its way into the supply chain.
Most growers followed food safety guidelines, regulations, and requirements in their GAP programmes which required them not to harvest any produce that had been in contact with flood water or produce within buffer zones around flood waters. This led to significant economic losses for growers who did the right thing for food safety risk management.
Gladly, no food safety outbreak was linked with fresh produce in the aftermath of the cyclone. Though the risk was high, it was generally well managed which is a positive outcome for consumers and the industry.
The main lesson learned was that the industry should establish a collaborative network to respond in a timely manner during critical incidents, mitigate the risks of a large-scale food safety issue linked to fresh produce, and partner to collectively prepare for future crises. The concept of a New Zealand Fresh Produce Safety Network proposes to meet this need by enhancing leadership, strategic alignment, and coordination of activities across the New Zealand fresh produce food safety system. The network could prioritise food safety research and development of guidelines to support growers to manage food safety risks more effectively in the next major flood, as well as improved guidelines on managing critical incidents. The network could also facilitate efficient and effective communication on food safety. During the Nelson-Tasman floods, the response and communication was notably improved compared to cyclone Gabrielle demonstrating that some lessons have been learned and the food safety system is already moving in the right direction.
The Fresh Produce Safety Centre (FPSC) has recently updated and published the Fundamental Guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety which include a chapter on Managing Critical Incidents. To manage such incidents effectively, businesses should develop, maintain and regularly test their Incident Management Plan (IMP) which readily integrates with other business systems.
The key elements of an IMP include:
- establish an incident management team with clearly defined roles and responsibilities
- identification and risk assessment of incidents
- monitoring and reporting
- traceability systems including hold and release management
- recall and withdrawal management
- effective stakeholder communication (e.g. regulatory agencies, peak industry bodies, customers, suppliers), certification body, assurance programme (e.g. GLOBALG.A.P., NZGAP) and consumers
- investigation (e.g. data collection, laboratory analysis and root cause analysis)
- preparedness and training (e.g. annual system tests, practice implementation via simulation) including using lessons learned to update the IMP.
Resources:
Guidance for harvesting flood-affected produce for human consumption – NZ Government
(https://www.mpi.govt.nz/funding-rural-support/adverse-events/food-safety-in-natural-disasters-and-emergencies/guidance-for-harvesting-flood-affected-produce-for-human-consumption)
Resources on floods and food safety – Fresh Produce Safety Centre
(https://fpsc-anz.com/2022/03/09/resources-on-floods-and-food-safety-2022/)
Fundamental Guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety – Fresh Produce Safety Centre
(https://fpsc-anz.com/)
Important food safety guidance for Nelson/Tasman growers – Horticulture New Zealand
(https://www.hortnz.co.nz/news-events-and-media/media-releases/important-food-safety-guidance-for-nelsontasman-growers