BUSINESS food safety workshops
Prepare growers for Food Safety Standards
VegetablesWA and WA Health partner to prepare for New Primary Production and Processing Standards — Three workshops, Three regions and 62 Environmental Health Officers.
Words Katrina Hill, VegNET vegetablesWA, Henry Tan, Department of Health and Dr Elizabeth Frankish, Food Safety Consultant
AS part of the implementation of the upcoming food safety standards for leafy vegetables, melons, and berries, Department of Health WA (WA Health) engaged vegetables WA to deliver comprehensive training to Local Government Environmental Health Officers.
The program consisted of full-day workshops on food safety risk identification and mitigation in the primary production and processing of horticulture foods, followed by practical on-farm training the following day to reinforce and apply the learning principles.
Three rounds of training sessions were delivered across three regions in Western Australia, with 62 Environmental Health Officers participating in the training workshops.
The training was developed by Dr Elizabeth Frankish for vegetablesWA. Dr Frankish is well-known in the WA horticulture industry and a food safety consultant with a PhD focused on microbial risk in the fruit supply chain, combined with extensive experience assisting farmers in managing microbiological risks in their operations.
Training workshops held for Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) were designed to introduce them to the range of hazards, the sources of those hazards, and routine activities on farms at pre-harvest, during harvest and post-harvest stages of operations.
The range of inputs for growing, harvesting, and post-harvest activities were discussed in line with the expectation of good agricultural practices in the new Primary Production and Processing Standards for melons, leafy vegetables, and berries.
Manjimup EHO training Primary production and Processing Standards on Farm Training — Machinery Hygiene.
Manjimup — EHO training in Primary Production and Processing systems.
“ Importantly, the training incorporated field visits so that EHOs could experience first-hand the challenges and opportunities for growers to mitigate risk from food safety hazards. ”
Current food safety controls used by the industry were highlighted and scenarios of realistic situations in managing both microbial and chemical risks were workshopped. This resulted in robust discussion and constructive ideas as to how EHO’s might approach discussion with growers in further developing a food safety culture in line with the new standards.
The training sessions were well received by attendees, as they provided regulatory officers with the necessary background knowledge to accurately identify food safety risks and familiarize themselves with an environment that was not previously regulated.
Additionally, it allowed them to appreciate the practicalities and challenges faced by growers operating at varying scales of production.
Big thanks to the farms for hosting our field training.
Vegetables WA will continue to work closely with WA Health to support Western Australian growers to achieve a smooth transition leading up to the new Primary Production and Processing standards commencing on 12 February 2025.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Growers and industry seeking more information please contact us at joel.dinsdale@vegetableswa.com.au