Creating Educational Programming with Practical Solutions for Small Scale Wash Stations and Post- Harvest Water Management Robert Hadad Cornell Cooperative Extension CVP WNY Regional Vegetable Specialist

Salmonella Outbreak Prompts Recall of Peanuts No other comic strip affected.

GAPs & HGAPs Trainings  Developed training programs  Evolving since 2006  Two day intensive workshops  First day goes over all aspects food safety with discussion  Second day for assisting growers write draft food safety plan  Later in season hold mock audits  More than 35 trainings with over 350 farms  Biggest hang-up for farmers = post-harvest handling and wash water considerations

Why Is Water a Big Issue?  Many factors that influence the quality and safety of postharvest water  Is used in many different postharvest operations and systems  Pathogens are easily spread through water

Educational Opportunity  Created a workshop covering:  Wash water  Post-harvest handling  Wash station set-up

Postharvest Water Uses  Rinsing  Packing line  Hydro-cooling  Cleaning and sanitation  Hand washing for employees

Post-harvest Water Quality is Critical  An in-field contamination event can be amplified by post-harvest water.  This means one piece of contaminated produce can lead to contamination of the entire lot or lots

Water Sanitation is the Key  Adding a sanitizer to water is NOT meant to “wash” the product, but instead meant to prevent the spread of contamination.  All water used for washing, cooling, or other processes on harvested or ripe product must be the microbial equivalent of drinking water, i.e. potable.  New proposed regulation: No detectable generic E.coli in 100 ml water sample used for postharvest purposes

Managing Water Quality 1.Begin with potable water for postharvest activities 2.Add, maintain, monitor, and record sanitizer levels in all flumes, dump tanks, and even single pass water, if warranted 3.Monitor and record temperature of dump tank and flume water as well as pulp temperatures to prevent infiltration 4.Monitor and record pH, turbidity

Bulk, Batch, Dump Tank Water  Always, always, always add a sanitizer  A mistake here can ruin all the work you have done to protect the crop  Food safety and postharvest quality benefit from adding a sanitizer!  Calculations

Choosing a Sanitizer Most common sanitizer is chlorine –Affordable and available –Corrosive, highly reactive, not very effective on certain organisms Many other options –Ozone, peroxyacetic acid, hydrogen peroxide Organic options exist –Tsunami, Spectrum, Sanidate 5.0, Storox –ALWAYS check with your certifier!

Quiz!  What is the purpose of adding sanitizer to postharvest wash water? A.To kill ALL pathogens on produce B.To minimize cross-contamination C.To make me happy

What Practical Things Can Be Done to Monitor the Effectiveness of the Sanitizer?  Free chlorine Measures chlorine available to kill pathogens  pH Chlorine is most effective between pH 6-7  Turbidity Organic matter (soil, leaves, fruit pulp) can interfere with/bind chlorine

Monitoring  Test strips for free-chlorine  ORP meter

Other Sanitizers  Hydrogen peroxide/peroxyacetic acid  Monitor levels with test strips  Sanidate 5.0  Stor-Ox 5.0

When to Change the Water  Turbidity  Organic matter affects effectiveness of chlorine  Dirty water  Can monitor with Sechi disks

Recordkeeping Necessary for audits Help visualize trends Ensures the system is working properly Makes sure the task is done, and done properly Provide templates

SOPs & Training Workers SOPs are essential to make sure the task is completed properly Workers who do these tasks must be trained to use the SOP Be specific with SOP! Like a recipe, anyone should be able to follow Include where the supplies are, how exactly to do each step, what to record

Wash Station Design Considerations Must be easily cleaned and sanitized Must be properly constructed Consider product flow - must keep unwashed and washed produce separated Properly dispose of water/prevent standing water Hand-washing station is separate Wash station flow – dirty produce coming in, getting cleaned, cleanly packed, clean produce coming out

New Workshop Version  Mobile classroom – setting up wash station under canopy  Assembling pvc wash table – easily cleaned  Dedicated wash hose w/nozzle  Portable wash tubs  Aeration apparatus to improve cleaning greens & lettuce  Drying racks  Greens spinner  Product flow from “dirty” side to clean side for packing out  SOP templates, record logs, design plans  Forced air pre-cooling design and demo

Dunk Tank Aerator