The “Food Safety Education and Planning for Agritourism” webinar will
begin at 12:00 p.m. EST. While you wait, use the “sparkler ” tool on the
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Food Safety Education and
Planning for Agritourism
Ben Amsden, Plymouth State University
Lisa Chase and Londa Nwadike, UVM Extension
December 14, 2011
This material is based upon work supported in part by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2010-49200-06201.
Choose A, B, C or D
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B.
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Farmer
Extension educator, outreach
Policy or advocacy
Other
Choose A, B, C or D
A.
B.
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U-pick
Prepared Food
CSA
Other
If there is food, folks will come
• What is risk?
– Simple and complex definitions
• Why manage risk?
– Protecting customer health
– Protecting your business
The tools of risk management
• Tool #1: The help and advice of experts
• Tool #2: A support network of stakeholders
• Tool #3: A personalized risk management plan
Managing risk: One size can’t fit all
• Why isn’t liability insurance enough?
• What types of insurance do are out there?
• What about working with others?
• What if I am doing something unusual?
• What are the emerging issues in risk management?
Do I need to think about risk?
• Do you host activities that involves food and/or alcohol?
• Are you familiar with best practices in food safety?
• Can you train employees to follow these practices?
• Can you ensure that everyone follows best practices?
• If a customer has a bad experience, how will you handle it?
Outline
• Food contamination
– How it happens
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Impact of food borne illness
Who needs to be concerned with food safety?
Risk-based food safety systems
General food safety principles
Food contamination
Types
• Microbial: bacterial, viral, parasites
– disease-causing: pathogens
• Chemical: heavy metals, natural toxins,
pesticides
• Physical: wood, stones, glass, etc
How do contaminants get in?
• Many foodborne microbes present in
intestine of healthy food animals
– Meat and poultry can be contaminated in slaughter
• Produce: washed or irrigated with
contaminated water, other conditions
• Processed food: cross contamination,
infected humans
Results of food contamination
• Symptoms of foodborne illness (FBI)
– Contaminant enters body through GI tract, so first
symptoms usually there
• Nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, etc
• FBI outbreaks
– More than 250 foodborne diseases described
– Examples: Listeria in cantaloupe; E.coli in sprouts,
strawberries, spinach; Salmonella in peanut butter,
raw milk cheese, etc
What is impact of FBI?
• Difficult to fully determine
– Health effects ($9 billion in health care costs)
– Loss of markets requiring assurance of safe food
– Reduced shelf life of foods
***Loss of consumer confidence
– Under-reporting of FBI, little active surveillance
– Source of disease difficult: may be spread through
food, drinking water, swim water, personal contact
How much FBI occurs?
• Yearly in US
– 48 million illnesses (1 in 6 people)
– 128,000 hospitalizations
– 3,000 deaths
• Especially concerned about young, old,
pregnant, sick
Who should be concerned?
– Everyone!!
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On-farm meal providers
Restaurants
U-pick operations
CSAs
Market vendors
Other agri-tourism operations
Food processors
Food transporters
Consumers
Risk-based food safety
• Risk: combination of the probability that a
particular outcome will occur and the severity
of the harm involved
– Use risk-based system to control risk factors that
may cause disease
– Examples: HACCP, GAPs
– These help decrease FBI
• Provide assurance to customers of food safety
• Can also be a management tool
General FS principles
- Must ensure that premises, equipment,
transport and employees do not contribute
to or become food safety hazards
- Need the following in place:
- Sanitation
- Pest control
- Personal practices/ hygiene
- Gloves, handwashing, hygienic clothing
- (GHPs, GMPs, SSOPs)
Upcoming Food Safety events
• Food Safety for Food Processors
– Dec 15, Brattleboro, VT
• NOFA Direct Marketing Conference
– Jan 8, 2012, S. Royalton, VT
• Maple food safety- Maple conferences in Jan
• VT Food Safety Summit- March 22, 2012
• Food safety, HACCP for meat processors
http://www.uvm.edu/extension/food/?Page=food_safety.html
Food Safety publications
• Farmers Market Vendor Series
– General Food Safety Practices, Samples, Selling Fresh Produce
– Selling Meat, Eggs and Dairy Products
– Selling Prepared Foods and Baked Goods
• Food Safety Requirements for VT Food Processors
• Key Vermont Slaughter Inspection and Licensing
Requirements for Meat Producers
• VT Meat Labeling and Packaging Requirements
• Food Distributors Operating in Vermont
• Food Safety After Floods
Resources
• www.uvm.edu/tourismresearch/agritourism
Webpage with food safety fact sheets and links
specifically for agritourism
• www.uvm.edu/extension/food
Webpage for food safety including upcoming events
• Want to talk with a real person about food safety?
Contact Londa Nwadike at 802-223-2389 ext. 216 or
londa.nwadike@uvm.edu