Is your Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) doing enough? New advancements in tools for EMPs suggest re-visiting what "good" looks like. Testing one’s production environment for microorganisms like Listeria and Salmonella has become commonplace; however, is your program returning on your investment? How do you know, and what new tools are at your disposal to make sure your testing…
Much of today’s society involves measurement, data collection and ultimately comparison amongst others to see how we stack up. We are either too heavy, too thin, our blood pressure too high, GPA too low, or we have too few followers on our social pages. In short, we have driven ourselves toward a constantly growing need to collect, evaluate and judge what success looks like based on measurable…
New Organic Certification rules: Are you ready? On March 19, 2024 the USDA will be enforcing new regulations under the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) Rule. The SOE rule reflects the most significant update to the USDA regulations since the standards were developed, and there are SOE rule changes that Produce companies should be aware of to ensure compliance going forward. Join…
The Western Growers Science team has created a quick reference primer for leafy green food safety professionals on the design considerations of a leafy green preharvest tissue testing program. What can a preharvest sample tell you about risk, when should you apply the testing and how do you drive more value from your test result? Find the Primer: Preharvest Pathogen Testing of Leafy Green…
The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) issued a letter to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) on October 11, 2023 requesting the NOSB update their work agenda to include a discussion on amending the standard’s current term definition and practice standard for compost (7 CFR 205.2 and 7 CFR 205.203, respectively). The NOP’s request comes about following a recent petition submitted by…