Organic
standards and food safety
What are the current standards for organic producers?
To
be certified as an organic producer, you must follow the standards outlined by
the Canadian
General Standards Board in their "Organic Production Systems General
Principles and Management Standards." These standards focus on the management
aspects of organic production only. They do not make any specific claims around
food safety, nutrition or health attributes of products produced under the organic
label.
How can you improve your food safety practices?
To
complement the organic standards you already have in place, you can now use Advantage
Good Agricultural Practices. This voluntary program covers food safety practices
at the farm for both crop and livestock. It takes a whole farm approach to food
safety. That means you can apply the practices to any farm, any size, no matter
what production methods or products you produce. If you have a multi-commodity
farm, you can follow the Advantage program using one manual and keep one
set of records.
When you join Advantage, you will get:
- Tools to identify risks on your farm
- Practices to manage the risks
and tips to help you implement them
- Templates to maintain one set of records
for your entire operation
What practices can help multi-commodity
farms improve food safety?
If you are a producer of both livestock
and crops it is very important to pay attention to points where cross-contamination
can occur between livestock and crops. For example:
- Is your manure
stored uphill from your vegetable field? Could it be a source of contamination
for those vegetables?
- Do you change your clothing and footwear
as you move from handling your livestock to working with your vegetables?
- Are you and/or your staff washing their hands well before handling
fruits and vegetables?
- Do farm visitors follow practices that
will prevent them from spreading food pathogens from your livestock area to your
vegetable/ fields/orchards/picking/packing areas?
The Advantage
Good Agricultural Practices manual will first help you identify the areas
of greatest risks on your farm. Then it will guide you to put the appropriate
food safety practices in place.
What Advantage Good Agricultural
Practices could you add to your organic operation?
Advantage
Good Agricultural Practices complement the Organic Production Standards. Food
safety practices covered in the Advantage manual include:
General
Farm
- worker policies (clothing, handwashing, etc.)
- farm buildings
and access
- equipment
- water (irrigation and post-harvest)
- cleaning
and sanitizing
- farm inputs (including storage and disposal)
- shipping
Crops
- soil and environment evaluation
- nutrient use
- harvest
tools and containers
This module also contains a pesticide use section
which would not apply to organic producers.
Livestock and poultry
- bedding use
- milking practices
- egg handling
- animal
health products (use includes alternative health products, vitamins, etc)
Learn
More
