BUSINESS quality assurance

The world is becoming a complicated place. In everyday life we are constantly fending off scams and filtering fake news from legitimate facts. Production horticulture follows the same global trends that we see worldwide. This means that it is not safe from fake news. Perhaps 2025 is the year of the furphy?

Words Joel Dinsdale, Quality Assurance Coordinator, vegetablesWA

Furphy is defined in the Oxford Dictionary (Online) as:

“A rumour or story, especially one that is untrue or absurd”.

With that in mind, I thought I’d set the record straight on a few furphies that I’ve come across over the years supporting growers in the compliance space. We will look to unpack the truth from the fiction, to help clear the air and aid in compliance.

This is 100% fake news. It’s a complete furphy!

Being an organic certified grower has zero bearing on Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) testing. If you take Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) base schemes out of the equation, the Food Standards ANZ (which is the piece of legislation that outlines the legal requirements for all food producers) states that all food producers should obtain evidence to demonstrate that their food is safe for consumption.

To take this further, if you are producing multiple different crops e.g. tomato and strawberry, then you would need an annual MRL test that has verified and validated that both crops meet the MRL’s set by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ).

It doesn’t matter where in the world the food is being produced. If it’s being sold in Australia, then this is a legal requirement.

Sticking on the topic of MRL testing. This one has the potential to have some elements of truth to it, so beware and do your homework.

If this is resonating with your business the GFSI schemes require an annual MRL test be conducted on each commodity group only. If a customer requires further testing above and beyond the base scheme requirements. This would override the base scheme minimum requirements.

If in doubt, get it in writing from all your customers, or review your supplier agreements/customer specifications. It’s also a good idea to review Customer Specifications annually, to ensure that you are monitoring for changes.

Utter BS. Complete furphy!

You can NEVER truly test your way to food safety and compliance. Testing provides a snapshot in time of the status of the food in the production system. It supports a food safety management system (FSMS) by providing verification and validation points. Unfortunately, it will never provide the complete assurances of food safety.

MRL testing is a legal requirement for produce sold in Australia.

On a positive note, testing can provide data points that can be trended and to use one of my favourite phrases: “what gets measured, gets managed”. Don’t let this furphy put you off testing as overall it’s a great activity to conduct as part of your FSMS.

Testing should always be based on risk and science-based evidence. For example, there’s no need to test for the presence of allergens in a product, unless the production systems identify a risk of allergen cross-contamination.

Another furphy!

If you are selling fruit and vegetables by weight, you are required under the National Measurement Institute (NMI) requirements “to ensure that the measurement is accurate”.

It is your responsibility to make sure your scale is correct at all times.

Here’s what NMI Online says about the use of scales:

• If you use a scale to weigh and sell fruit and vegetables that aren’t pre-packaged, you must ensure that:

– the NMI has approved your type of scales and any attached modules (i.e. point of sale system)

– a servicing licensee has verified your scales and any attached modules

– you and your staff use them in the correct manner (e.g. level and indicating zero before use)

– you position them so that the customer can easily see the weighing process (if not, you must provide a written statement of the weight)

– you keep them clean and in good working order

– a servicing licensee verifies them after each repair or adjustment.

It is your responsibility to make sure your scale is correct at all times.

We recommend that you have all your scales checked regularly by a technician licensed by NMI (servicing licensee). For a list of servicing licensees, email tmlicensees@ measurement.gov.au.

For further information, please see: www.industry.gov.au/national-mea-surement--institute/trade-andindustry/laws-and-regulationsselling-products-amounts/selling-fruit-and-vegetables

Furphy!

Staying on scales, you’d think, the NMI requirements above would suggest that we need to ensure that our scales used for weighing out chemicals always remain calibrated. This is true, but because we are weighing out chemicals for the purposes of dilution and application, the same NMI requirements do not apply. It also worth noting that the requirements above, are for “sales of fruit and vegetables” only.

Because there is no sales transaction, this does not apply to this situation.

If you look at the GFSI base scheme requirements, they require the calibration of measurement devices, but the frequency is determined by the program. If the FSMS requires daily calibration, then it may be required.

However, the measurement of chemicals is ultimately verified and validated at the Critical Control Point (CCP) that is conducted at MRL testing prior to first sale. If the MRL test returns results that meet the required MRLs then the calibration of the chemical scales is not necessary.

Best practice suggests it’s a good idea from time to time to verify that your scales are reading the correct result (of a known weight). If you haven’t got access to a “test mass” then it’s worthwhile obtaining one from your nearest measurement/scales shop.

As you can see, there are quite a few Furphies that are out and about in the industry. Look out for the next edition of WA Grower, where I’ll unpack some more QA furphies.