Good Hygiene Practices along the coffee chain
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 2
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 3
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
Steps being covered in this presentation
Slide 4
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Dry or wet
processing
of coffee
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 5
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Outline of Section III Codex GPFH –
Primary Production




3.1 - Environmental hygiene
3.2 - Hygienic production of food sources
3.3 - Handling, storage and transport
3.4 - 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 6
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Environmental hygiene



Slide 7
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 49-2001 deals
with environmental
chemical contamination
Emphasises avoidance of
contaminated areas and
measures to control
environmental pollution
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 8
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


Slide 9
Planting, pre-harvest, harvest, storage, transport
Incorporation of HACCP principles
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Growing coffee (cropping systems)
Open coffee field
Coffee intercropped with
banana
Coffee and groundnut
Coffee grown under
permanent shade
Slide 10
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 11
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Farm management practices
Drop system fertilisation
and irrigation
Weeding
Mulching
Spraying
Slide 12
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 13
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 outsorted CBB damaged beans than in
sound beans from the same batch
Slide 14
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Sound
Damaged
2,2 ppb
0,2 ppb
24,5 ppb
1,0 ppb
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 15
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Agricultural practices in OTA reduction
programmes
‘Elimination of fungal vectors in the vicinity of crop’
By-products from
processing:
Pulp and Husk
Good medium and
source of spores
 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
Slide 16
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Agricultural practices in OTA reduction
programmes
‘Elimination of fungal vectors in the vicinity of crop’
Composting in a pit
Use of worms in
composting
Further work completed to investigate impact of
composting procedures on propagation of OTAproducing mould
Slide 17
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Good practices in coffee production
Some indications regarding stage of maturity
OTA content in samples after 12
days of drying (Uganda, July 2002)
Maturity stages
Immature cherries
Ripe cherries
Overripe cherries
Slide 18
OTA (ppb)
Beans
Husk
0.3
0.6
2.1
2.6
26.7
59.3
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 19
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Maturity at harvest: quality and
safety implications
 Use picking mats


Selective picking
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
Use of harvesting mats
Slide 20
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Impact of harvesting practices
X
Slide 21
Winnowing of fallen
cherries
Cherries harvested from
the ground can be highly
contaminated by OTAproducing mould
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Impact of ‘storage’ of cherries
‘Common examples of BAD practice on many farms’
Heaping in the orchard
Storage on the farm
Delays between harvesting of cherries and drying
should be kept to a minimum
Slide 22
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Impact of ‘storage’ of cherries
‘Fresh cherries should NEVER be stored’
Heaping in the orchard
 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
Storage on the farm
Slide 23
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 24
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 25
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 26
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Summary
Growing of coffee
Harvesting of coffee
Transport to place of
further processing
Pulping
Drying
Wet
processing
Dry
processing
Slide 27
 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
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production
Next steps…
 Reflect, discuss, ask questions...
 Next module - Establishment: design and
facilities
Slide 28
Module 3.1 – The Codex General
Principles of Food Hygiene –
Primary Production