Good Hygiene Practices along the coffee chain The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Module 3.1

Slide 2 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Objectives  Introduce trainees to the importance of identifying and controlling food safety hazards in primary production with specific reference to the coffee chain  To identify steps in the primary production of coffee where control can prevent food safety hazards  To establish the role of government and the importance of Codex Alimentarius in the control of contaminants and other undesirable substances in foods

Slide 3 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Content  Scope, outline and objectives of Section III of Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene, ‘Primary Production’  Application of food hygiene principles to the primary production of coffee  Regulatory guidelines and measures to promote safe primary production

Slide 4 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Section III – Primary production  Codex definition of primary production: ‘...those steps in the food chain up to and including, for example, harvesting, slaughter, milking, fishing.’ Growing Harvesting Transport to location for further processing Dry or wet processing of coffee Steps being covered in this presentation

Slide 5 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Section III – Primary production  Objective of Section III  Primary production should be managed in a way that ensures that food is safe and suitable for its intended use  Identify steps in the primary production where food safety hazards could be introduced. Emphasise controls at points most at risk

Slide 6 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Outline of Section III Codex GPFH – Primary Production  Environmental hygiene  Hygienic production of food sources  Handling, storage and transport  Cleaning, maintenance and personal hygiene at primary production Remember it is a general code and certain provisions may not be relevant in any given situation

Slide 7 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Environmental hygiene  Food production should not be carried out in areas where the presence of potentially harmful substances would lead to an unacceptable level of such substances in food  CAC/RCP deals with environmental chemical contamination  Emphasises avoidance of contaminated areas and measures to control environmental pollution

Slide 8 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Environmental hygiene  Environmental contaminants that could potentially become food-borne hazards  Heavy metals in soil, naturally present or through environmental degradation, can be assimilated into plant tissues (arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc)  A 1996 survey in France showed no unacceptable levels of heavy metals in coffee  No reported problems of other environmental contaminants, such as persistent organohalogens, in coffee Moulds producing OTA are widely distributed and cannot be avoided but we can avoid practices that increase likelihood of contamination...

Slide 9 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Hygienic production of food sources  Includes identifying points in primary production activities where a high probability of contamination exists and taking specific measures to minimise that probability  Codex Code of Practice for the reduction of mycotoxin contamination in cereals provides further useful guidance in building prevention programmes for coffee, covering  Planting, pre-harvest, harvest, storage, transport  Incorporation of HACCP principles

Slide 10 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Growing coffee (cropping systems) Open coffee fieldCoffee intercropped with banana Coffee and groundnutCoffee grown under permanent shade

Slide 11 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Growing coffee (cropping systems)  No relation has been established between contamination and cropping systems  Such relations are difficult to establish due to the large number of variables and degree of natural variation Coffee intercropped with pepper

Slide 12 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Farm management practices Drop system fertilisation and irrigation Weeding MulchingSpraying

Slide 13 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Agricultural practices in OTA reduction programmes  The farm survey did not reveal any significant correlation between contamination and  Inter cropping  Fertilizer or other soil treatments  Weed management practices  The global project focussed mostly on post-production practices in the control of OTA contamination  Correlations with production practices may exist. This can be the subject of future research. Capacity building activities within the global project allow national centres to continue applied research components of their coffee development programmes

Slide 14 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Agricultural practices in OTA reduction programmes  Effective pest management may play a role in OTA prevention  Preliminary evidence that CBB can spread OTA-OTA producing fungi  Further investigations are being conducted  Preliminary work has shown higher levels of OTA contamination in out- sorted CBB damaged beans than in sound beans from the same batch SoundDamaged 2,2 ppb 0,2 ppb 24,5 ppb 1,0 ppb

Slide 15 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Pest management  Good practices in the control of CBB can also help prevent OTA contamination  Trapping  Biological control with parasitoids and fungi  Spraying  Removal and sanitary disposal of fallen cherries

Slide 16 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Agricultural practices in OTA reduction programmes  Only use well composted pulp for mulching and manuring - including earthworms gives a superior compost  Remove by-products from processing / drying areas  Assure run-off from processing does not create a pollution problem By-products from processing: Pulp and Husk Good medium and source of spores ‘Elimination of fungal vectors in the vicinity of crop’

Slide 17 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Agricultural practices in OTA reduction programmes Further work completed to investigate impact of composting procedures on propagation of OTA- producing mould Composting in a pit Use of worms in composting ‘Elimination of fungal vectors in the vicinity of crop’

Slide 18 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Good practices in coffee production OTA content in samples after 12 days of drying (Uganda, July 2002) Some indications regarding stage of maturity Maturity stages OTA (ppb) BeansHusk Immature cherries Ripe cherries Overripe cherries

Slide 19 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Maturity at harvest: quality and safety implications Some indications regarding stage of maturity  From a ‘coffee quality’ perspective, the use of immature cherries should be avoided  Removal of over-ripe cherries during sorting might be useful OTA-prevention measure  Avoid harvesting of cherries from the soil  ‘Tree dried’ cherries in arid zones do not appear to increase risk

Slide 20 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Maturity at harvest: quality and safety implications  Use picking mats  To avoid collection of old cherries from the ground  To reduce contamination with soil  Sweep ground to remove old fallen cherry before harvesting  Select cherries at optimal stage of maturity  Sort out and dispose of unsound fruit Selective picking Use of harvesting mats

Slide 21 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Impact of harvesting practices Cherries harvested from the ground can be highly contaminated by OTA- producing mould X Winnowing of fallen cherries

Slide 22 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Impact of ‘storage’ of cherries Delays between harvesting of cherries and drying should be kept to a minimum ‘ Common examples of BAD practice on many farms ’ Heaping in the orchard Storage on the farm

Slide 23 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Impact of ‘storage’ of cherries Heaping in the orchard Storage on the farm  Unintentional  No room for drying or processing  Lack of labour for transport  Poor organisation of harvest  Reasons often given for fresh cherry storage  Drying is faster  Easier to pulp and to ferment ‘ Fresh cherries should NEVER be stored ’

Slide 24 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Cleaning, maintenance and personnel hygiene at primary production  Any necessary cleaning and maintenance is carried out effectively  Clean bags for the transport of fresh cherries (avoid bags used previously to transport dry cherries or husks)  Elimination of fungal vectors in the vicinity

Slide 25 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Role of government  Provide guidance to primary producers  Direct training  Preparation of risk-based guidelines  Development and dissemination of educational materials

Slide 26 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Role of government  To establish regulatory and control programmes  Coffee quality and safety standards and codes of practice  Regulations concerning distribution and use of pesticides and other chemicals in coffee production  Regulations to ensure compliance with required standards and practices  Financial and human resources to effectively implement regulations  Monitoring and surveillance programmes for proactive control

Slide 27 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Summary  Guided by Codex GPFH we have identified points in primary production of coffee where hazards might be introduced  We have identified means of controlling the food safety hazards  We have considered government’s role is ensuring that safe coffee is produced Growing of coffee Harvesting of coffee Transport to place of further processing Dry processing Wet processing PulpingDrying

Slide 28 Module 3.1 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Primary Production Next steps…  Reflect, discuss, ask questions...  Next module - Establishment: design and facilities