News
CHC veggie food safety program milestone

Dec.
16, 2009, Ottawa – The national food safety program for producers and packers
of combined vegetables (including asparagus, sweet corn and legumes, bulb and
root vegetables and fruiting vegetables) has now completed a rigorous
government technical review process.

Dec.
16, 2009, Ottawa – The national food safety program for producers and packers
of combined vegetables (including asparagus, sweet corn and legumes, bulb and
root vegetables and fruiting vegetables) has now completed a rigorous
government technical review process.

The
program, developed by the Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC), has been
officially endorsed by a team of technical experts from the federal and
provincial governments. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) provided the
CHC with a letter of completion in September. This is the final CHC module to
complete the process – five other crop groupings have already completed
government technical review.

“The
successful completion of our final module is an exciting milestone for us,”
said Heather Gale, who manages the program. “This has been five years in the
making.” 

The
CHC’s CanadaGAP (On-Farm Food Safety) Program consists of national food safety standards and a
certification system for the safe production, storage and packing of fresh
fruits and vegetables. Six crop-specific
manuals, developed by the horticultural industry and reviewed for technical
soundness by Canadian government officials, are designed for growers and
packers implementing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). The manuals contain
comprehensive guidance based on a rigorous hazard analysis using HACCP
principles.

The CHC
is a national, not-for-profit industry association representing fruit and
vegetable producers and packers.