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Food safety and quality assurance must begin where the produce grows, even though nature is difficult to control. Santa Rosa Produce’s farming practices have consistently been at the top of the produce industry, but we believe that even the best food safety standards require continuous improvement. To help ensure that the products grown and produced are both wholesome and safe, Santa Rosa Produce requires that all farms and harvesting crews be audited yearly and meet all federal requirements concerning GAP practices (Good Agricultural Practices).In addition to field quality assurance programs Santa Rosa Produce also has their state of the art cooling and distributing facility audited. All audits are conducted through Primus Labs. In addition to inspections performed by Primus Labs, Santa Rosa Produce also has many other private/industry third party inspectors present ensuring all food safety and quality measures are being achieved daily.
Some of those agencies are:
• Independently contracted quality inspectors are present, inspecting finished packed quality upon arrival to the cooling facility verifying quality/condition and sugar levels.
• Unannounced inspections by local, state and federal Department of Agriculture officials and Food & Drug investigators to assure compliance to standards and regulations are being achieved.
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Audits conducted by Primus Labs
• Routine water testing and soil testing conducted yearly on all fields for crop year production.
The key contents of GAP guidelines are sanitation, employee hygiene, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), irrigation water quality, pesticide use, and post harvest handling of produce.• Prior to each growing season, ranch locations are assessed to ensure they are not in close proximity of feedlots, sewer treatment plants, and/or garbage disposal sites.
• Irrigation water is tested regularly to ensure compliance to established irrigation water standards.
• We have a very accurate traceability program. Finished product cartons can be traced back to the harvested field, harvest crew, cooling equipment, shipping truck etc.
• All produce handlers are trained twice a year on proper hygiene and GMP’s (Good Manufacturing Practices). Good Manufacturing Practices includes the use washing & sanitation of hands after each break and use of toilets. No eating or drinking near or around harvesting machine or products to be harvested.
Food Safety Audits
Santa Rosa Produce has been using Primus Labs for the last seven years for its Food Safety audits. Primus Labs is a third party provider of certification, auditing and testing, and complies with industry standards. They are recognized for their high standards of performance in food safety in private and public sectors. Primus Labs is regarded as a truly neutral third party, and delivers professional and objective service.
