When consumers reach for a tomato grown by a member of California Tomato Farmers, they enjoy a tomato of the highest quality, grown under the strictest food safety standards and harvested by workers who enjoy a safe and positive work environment.

Food Safety Program

The members of California Tomato Farmers are committed to ensuring the field-grown tomatoes we produce are always safe to eat. Therefore, we have made food safety a top priority.

Members of California Tomato Farmers are leaders in the food safety arena. With the formation of this cooperative we have become even more proactive in this area. This is why we are spending additional time, money and resources to ensure our members adopt and exceed current industry food safety practices.

Each and every member of California Tomato Farmers has been actively involved in improving the safety of fresh market tomatoes. Many of our members worked on the first Draft Guidance Document for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain, which was written and accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. We are now involved in working to update and strengthen the second revision of this guidance document and to develop new food safety programs in California.

California Tomato Farmers will continue to work with the government and other tomato growers around the country to pursue uniform standards and effective food safety programs for all tomatoes. In the meantime, California Tomato Farmers has developed its own standards and has made them mandatory for our members.

 

Food Safety Standards.

California Tomato Farmers has organized under a cooperative structure which allows us to implement mandatory food safety standards for our members. California Tomato Farmers members produce nearly 700 million pounds of fresh tomatoes - nearly 8 of every 10 tomatoes grown in California. This is more than enough to fill the needs of every retail and foodservice outlet in North America during our growing season.

For the 2008 tomato season, all tomatoes produced by the members of California Tomato Farmers will be required to meet or exceed a higher standard. These standards have been developed by combining the FDA-accepted good agricultural and handling practices for the U.S. tomato industry along with existing audits required by our customers. Incorporating the best available science to minimize risk, California Tomato Farmers standards are demanding.

All members must participate in mandatory, third-party announced and random audits of field and packing house practices provided by United States Department of Agriculture inspectors who will audit to the higher standards set by our organization. Members found to be in violation of the approved standards will be subject to immediate removal of product from marketing channels, significant penalties and potential elimination from California Tomato Farmers membership.

An important goal of California Tomato Farmers is to provide a clear choice for consumers and the buying trade when it comes to purchasing fresh market tomatoes. When buyers purchase tomatoes from any California Tomato Farmers member they can be assured the tomatoes have been grown under a specific set of standards. This is particularly true in the important area of food safety.

To ensure the California Tomato Farmers standards are valid and meaningful, we have created an Advisory Panel which includes experts in food safety from government, academia and the produce buying trade. This panel will provide input as we move forward with our food safety programs.