Interview: Eleven Rivers Growers “The importance of Sanitation for Food Safety – CIAD”

By the end of February, Dr. Nohelia Castro Del Campo – Head Researcher and Eng. Hilary Beltrán, Research Assistant of the National Researchers System (SNI, in Spanish) of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT, in Spanish) – Research Center for Food and Development (CIAD) had an interview to Eng. Carlos Adonay Gastélum Barreras – Technical Advisor of Eleven Rivers Growers.

The purpose of this research project is to learn about the impact and importance that sanitation has to food safety and which disinfection methods are used in grower companies. Eng. Gastelum – Technical Advisor of Eleven Rivers Growers share with researches the importance that cleaning and sanitizing to food safety in grower companies, explained that the Eleven Rivers Growers Certification Squeme includes these aspects as a key part to the prevent food contamination.

He also mentioned the importance of food safety in fresh produce industry in Sinaloa, as it has become a key requirement for growers to comply with international markets and the main methods applied in grower companies to pathogens contamination control.

Currently the changes in domestic and international regulations, particularly the provisions of the US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) through the Foreign Suppliers Verification Program, have set an added pressures for importers to make sure that their suppliers are in continues compliance whit the Good Manufacturing Practices according to the law; monitoring of cleaning and sanitation tasks, implementation of a HACCP plan has become key elements to be reviewed, to prevent potential deficiencies to those companies engaged in exporting food from foreign suppliers.

He also, explained market trends which make buyers and distributors increasingly informed and demanding about the characteristics of companies and the products they buy; nowadays it is not enough to comply but also is very important to have the possibility to check all that activities carry out on an ongoing basis in grower companies to ensure the quality of the production, this is the reason why is so important count on certification programs such as Eleven Rivers Growers, to comply with the commitment of offering consumers fresh, healthy, reliable and sustainable products.

The research project in which the researchers scientists are currently working on, seeks to develop a product that helps to reducing the impact of contamination risk by pathogen agents and make it a commercial product that benefits the fresh produce industry.