Food Safety Catch 22 in Aquaponics

What comes first: the science or the standards?

What comes first: the science or the standards?

Safe food is expected by consumers. We will discuss in detail how we show our product is safe and create standard all aquaponics producers can do to minimize food borne illness.

• Food Safety – Duh . . . • What is a verifiable food safety program• How to create, edit Food Safety Standards• It’s all about the science . . . test nutrients, pathogens, allergens, etc• Where are the resources and partners to help with studies

Who Is NCSI AmericasNCSI is a subsidiary of the Australian company, NCS International.

We have a specialist interest in:• Food Certification (e.g. HACCP, WQA, SQF, BRC and other GFSI standards)• Quality Assurance (e.g. ISO 9001, Disability Services, and Market & Social Research)• Occupational Health and Safety (AS 4801, OHSAS 18001 & National Insurance)• Environment and Sustainability Initiatives (ISO 14001, Forestry, ISO 14064 Green

House Gas & NGERs verification)• Green Product Certification (e.g. Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA)• Health Certification (e.g. ISO 9001 Core Standards for Safety & Quality in Healthcare

(replaced by the National Safety & Quality Health Service Standards from July 2011).

Engaged with Industry• Construction, Manufacturing and trades, Utilities & Resources, Government, Health &

Services, Agriculture & Food

Major risks associated with food borne illnesses in produce

4 W’s• Water• Workers• Wildlife• Manure/Compost (upside down W)

• Other things to think about as risks• Adjacent lands (Waste Dump, Animal Operations, etc)• Previous Land use

GAP & GMP – What?Good Agricultural Practices ( GAPs)• Anything that has to do with growing and field/ranch practices• Ranch (Farm) Audit• Greenhouse Audit• Harvesting Crew Audit

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)• Post field harvest through retail distribution• Cooler/Cold Storage Audit• Packinghouse or Repacking Operations (Aggregators) Audit• Processing Audits (with HACCP)• Storage and Distribution Audits

Verifiable Food Safety ProgramFood Safety/Compliance Manual (Risk Analysis)

+Food Safety/Compliance Guidelines (Preventative & Corrective Measures)

+Check List (Self Audit Benchmark)

=Verifiable Food Safety Program

+ Third Party Audit

=Third Party Verified Food Safety Program

Commodities?• What commodities do you want within the program?

Compliance Expectations?• What are the compliance criteria for your supplier

group(s)?

Produce Fish Etc.

Food Safety Welfare Q/ASustainable Social Etc.

GFSIGlobal Food Safety Initiative

• Helps and encourages food safety stakeholders to share

knowledge and strategy for food safety and to develop best food

safety practice in a common global framework.

• Benchmarks existing food safety schemes against the GFSI

Guidance Document to determine whether a scheme is

equivalent to the GFSI requirements.

An independent global parity-based Consumer Goods network Over 400 Members 150 countries Over 5 continents

GFSI is managed by The Consumer Goods Forum

Paris, HQ

Tokyo

Singapore

Shanghai

Washington D.C.

GFSI Vision“Safe food for consumers everywhere”  

GFSI Mission“Provide continuous improvement in food safety management systems to

ensure confidence in the delivery of safe food to consumers worldwide”

GFSI Objectives 1 & 2• Reduce food safety risks by delivering equivalence and

convergence between effective food safety management systems

• Manage cost in the global food system by eliminating redundancy and improving operational efficiency

GFSI Objectives 3 & 4• Develop competencies and capacity building in

food safety to create consistent and effective global food systems

• Provide a unique international stakeholder platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange and networking

WHO ACCEPTS GFSI

WHO ACCEPTS GFSI

WHO ACCEPTS GFSI

WHO ACCEPTS GFSI

Global Food Safety Initiative Audits . . .

USDA Organics?• Real or Marketing Hype

Alternatives to Organic?• Pesticide free program• Sustainable Program Audit• Create your own marketing standard

Pesticide Certified . . .

Sustainable Audits . . .

Create your own Certification/Standard. . .

OR . . .

A GREAT FACES TO A NEW MARKET

Create Aquaponic StandardsDo not reinvent wheels• Pick and edit an approved audit that will be the closest fit

How to edit – Via Committee• Review checklists

• What should be taken out – Why? (it is all about the science)• What should be added – Why? (it is all about the science)

Work with audit scheme of choice to approve edits (GlobalGAP, etc)• Get committee to approve

It’s all about the ScienceNutrients• From fish – into fish

Allergens?• Crawfish• Prawns

Pathogens?• Environmental• Inputs• Animal infestation

Potential Partnerships . . .

• Universities• Research Labs• Certified Bodies – Like NCSI• Aquaponic Growers• Community – Schools, Churches, Etc.• Investors• Etc.

FAQ• What will the compliance world look like in 5 years?

• What is the audit for the industry?

• What is the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) going to do to the industry?

• What is going to happen in the Regulatory world?

• Is the government going to put third parties out of the job?

• “I’ve been doing the same thing for the last 40 years and 3 generations and I ain’t got no one sick, why do I need to do this compliance B.S?”

Questions

Matt RegusciNCSI Americas, Inc.South West VP of Business Development, Sales, Marketing O: 805.270.5270C: 805.550.7117F: 206.299.3085E: matt.regusci@ncsiamericas.comW: www.ncsiamericas.com Twit: mattregusciLink: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattregusciBlog: http://www.ncsiamericas.com/about/news/