Organic standards and food safety

Complementing certification with Advantage Good Agricultural Practices

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

• Organic Agriculture