The Arizona Leafy Greens Food Safety Training Committee has put a wrap on a new bilingual video series, which has been named a finalist for “best new food safety solution” at the United Fresh 2014 New Product Award competition. The video series is another enhancement to the organization’s comprehensive Food Safety Training Program, aimed at harvest supervisors and foremen, food safety coordinators, production supervisors, quality control personnel, extension educators and/or industry consultants who conduct food safety training at leafy greens farms, and is specifically targeted at those who handle leafy greens before, during or after harvest.
“We’re always looking for ways to enhance the training program, offering new methods of teaching best practices, improving the flexibility and delivery of safety messages so that we make it as easy as possible to execute,” said Vicki-Lynne Scott, technical subcommittee chairperson and board member of the Arizona Leafy Greens Food Safety Committee. “Our training program has become a model in the industry, with the FDA even suggesting coordination with Arizona and our California counterpart on ensuring compliance with new FSMA rules for food safety.”
The six-chapter video series was shot on-site at farms throughout Arizona, and closely follows the format of the Arizona Leafy Greens’ Food Safety Training Kit. It features a general orientation, and chapters on foodborne outbreaks, leafy greens contaminants, personal hygiene, hand washing and cross-contamination in the field. The videos are produced in both English and Spanish, and range in length from five to 12 minutes.
The video series was made possible in part by a USDA specialty crop block grant awarded to fund various initiatives that strengthen and expand economic opportunities for local and regional producers.