BC Berry Grower Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) . Growers resources

BC Berry Grower Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)

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BC Berry Grower Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)

The Raspberry Industry Development Council, BC Blueberry Council www.bcblueberry.com, and the Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers Association www.BCStrawberries.com, have taken a proactive role in working with the industry to continue to provide our customers with high quality and safe berries.

Produce related food safety risks may be influenced by the physical, chemical and or microbial conditions under which the produce is grown, harvested, stored, transported or handled by the end user. All risks have the potential to cause food-borne illness.

To minimize the risk of contamination, BC berry growers are working to implement good agricultural practices (GAPs) on the farm. The key areas of focus for BC berry growers include:

This project is intended to introduce growers to GAPs and provide them with some tools to help implement GAPs. The tools available to growers include:

• Fact Sheets:
• GAP - English, Punjabi
• Adjacent Land Use - English, Punjabi
• Water Quality - English, Punjabi
• Worker Training Materials:
• Hand Wash Poster - English with Punjabi, English with Spanish
• Picker Leaflet - A Picker's Guide to Safe High Quality Berries - English with Punjabi, English with Spanish
• GAP Poster
• Checklists:
  • Pre-Harvest / Pre-Season Checklist
• Harvest / In-Season Checklist
• Record Keeping Forms:
  • Chemical Application Record Form
  • Harvest Record Form
  • Manure Application Form
• Additional Links:
• Primus Labs: www.primuslabs.com
  • Primus Farm/Ranch Self Audit
  • Primus Packinghouse Self Audit
• Eurepgap: www.eurepgap.org
  • Eurepgap Compliance Document
  • Eurepgap Protocol for Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
• Canadian Horticultural Council: www.hortcouncil.ca/offs.htm
• US FDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition: www.cfsan.fda.gov
• Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Fresh-cut Fruits & Vegetables: www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/prodguid3.html

Disclaimer: The project focuses on those areas that pose a potentially higher risk of contamination risk, but does not cover all possible hazards associated with berry production.

The BC Blueberry Council, Raspberry Industry Development Council and Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers Association do not assume liability for any loss, health, safety or environmental hazard resulting from the use of this program.

The BC Berry Growers Good Agricultural Practices and On Farm Food Safety Program was funded in part by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C. through the Agri-Food Futures Fund, Food Quality and Safety Initiative, a joint venture between Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

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