The importance of maintaining organic integrity not only while the crop is being grown but also after the crop is harvested cannot be overstated. To ensure organic integrity from the field to the consumer, it is important to develop standard procedures, or protocols, for harvesting, washing, storing, transporting, and labelling organic produce.
These protocols set by USDA Organic should be written in the Organic System Plan (OSP), approved by the certifier, and followed by all farmworkers.
Protocols differ from farm to farm, depending on the size of the farm and the storage facilities. On every farm, there are two common goals: preventing contamination of organic crops and preventing commingling of organic crops with conventional crops.
This article discusses some important considerations for harvesting, washing, storing, packing, labeling, and transporting organic crops.
Containers
Any container used for harvest, storage, or shipping can present a threat of contamination to organic produce. This includes bins, cardboard boxes, and trucks used to transport produce from the farm to a local market.
As organic producers harvest crops into containers, they should consider the potential for contamination and take appropriate steps to prevent it. Harvest and storage bins should be clean and free of residue left from conventional produce. Almost any type of soap or detergent can be used to clean containers, as long as the containers are thoroughly rinsed.
A few sanitisers, such as quaternary ammonium compounds, are prohibited because they leave residues that are difficult to remove. If the harvest containers must be sanitised, several brands of chlorine and peroxyacetic acid sanitisers are allowed for organic use.
The chlorine residues can be easily washed off with water. Peroxyacetic acids may not even need rinsing because they will decompose into water and oxygen and because washing with water after using peroxyacetic acid risks further contamination.
Packaging and shipping materials that are impregnated with prohibited pesticides can contaminate organic products. For example, reusing cardboard boxes that have been used for conventional produce is an excellent idea from the standpoint of sustainability.
However, many of those boxes have been treated with fungicides, so they should not be used for organic produce.
Washing produce
Microbial contamination of water used to wash fresh produce is a high-profile issue in the organic community. Some types of produce, such as lettuce, are simply rinsed with plain water to remove field heat. In those cases, the farmer needs to be aware of basic food safety and ensure that the water used is potable.
For other types of produce, such as apples, synthetic materials are added to the wash water to reduce microbial loads. Adding hydrogen peroxide, ozone, or chlorine to control microbial growth is allowed in organic processing, but there are restrictions on the use of these chemicals.
Section 205.605 of the US National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances states that chlorine (Cl) materials are allowed for “disinfecting and sanitising food contact surfaces” in organic processing. The regulation also states that “residual chlorine levels in the water shall not exceed the maximum residual disinfectant limit under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” which is currently 4 parts per million chlorine.
The interpretation of this regulation caused some confusion, leading the NOP to issue additional guidance. The guidance document can be found in the NOP Program Handbook as NOP5026, “The Use of Chlorine Materials in Organic Production and Handling,” and is summarised below.
When washing produce, the rinse water that makes final contact with the organic product must not contain more than 4 ppm chlorine. In other words, a food product, such as apples, may be bathed in water containing a higher concentration of chlorine, if it is permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but that product must receive a final rinse of water containing no more than 4 ppm chlorine.
The procedures used to wash produce and to monitor chlorine levels in the wash water must be included in the OSP.
Some farmers may choose to use chlorine materials for irrigating crops or cleaning irrigation systems. For those purposes, the water must contain no more than 4 ppm chlorine.
Storing produce
Storing produce appropriately is just as important as growing it. Your OSP should state the names of any storage facilities that you use. The farm inspector will want to visit any storage facilities that are used for organic crops, even if they are offsite.
Storage in an open container, such as an apple bin, presents more possibility of contamination or commingling than produce stored in a closed container, such as a 40-pound cardboard box of apples. For bulk storage of certain crops such as apples and potatoes, it may be necessary to have a dedicated organic cooler to avoid contact with post-harvest chemicals applied to conventional crops.
Potato storages, in particular, must be carefully cleaned after storage of conventional crops and before storage of organic crops.
Labeling nonretail containers
Nonretail containers include cardboard boxes, plastic bins, totes, or other containers used to transport fruits and vegetables to the warehouse, farmers market, or retailer. Such containers must be labelled with information that allows the product to be traced back to the farm and field where it was grown.
Nonretail containers on the farm include only raw agricultural products, but these rules apply as well to processed (e.g., frozen) products kept in bulk storage by processors.
For many small farmers who market raw products, it will be sufficient to label the container with the word “organic” and the farm name. The USDA organic seal or the seal of the certification agency may be used, but they are not required.
Farmers who have multiple fields of the same crop will need to assign lot numbers to the crops harvested from different fields and ensure that the lot number is attached to the container. For example, a farmer with three fields of sweet corn, all being sent to a processor to be frozen, may choose lot numbers of swc_JY30, swc_AU15, and swc_AU30. This code indicates the crop (swc), the harvest month (JY, AU) and the harvest day (15, 30).
Labelling retail containers
The rules for labelling organic retail products, both raw and processed, are addressed under the “Product Composition” section of the USDA organic regulations. The regulations cover the wording allowed on both the front panel and the information panel of a packaged product.
The four categories of labelling based on product composition are summarised below:
- “100 percent organic” can be used to label any product that contains 100 per cent organic ingredients (excluding salt and water, which are considered natural). Most raw, unprocessed farm products can be designated “100 percent organic.” Likewise, many value-added farm products that have no added ingredients – such as grain flours, rolled oats, etc – can also be labelled “100 per cent organic.”
- “Organic” can be used to label any product that contains a minimum of 95 per cent organic ingredients (excluding salt and water). Up to 5 per cent of the ingredients may be nonorganic agricultural products that are not commercially available as organic and/or nonagricultural products that are on the National List.1
- “Made with Organic ______” can be used to label a product that contains at least 70 per cent organically produced ingredients (excluding salt and water). There are a number of detailed constraints regarding the ingredients that comprise the nonorganic portion.
- The specific organic ingredients may be listed in the ingredient statement of products containing less than 70 per cent organic contents – for example, “Ingredients: water, barley, beans, organic tomatoes, salt.”
Many farmers make jams, teas, salsas, or other processed products from their excess produce. These value-added products can be an excellent source of income, but there are additional requirements if they are to be labelled organic.
Depending on the certifier, simple processing – such as drying of herbs, freezing of fruits, or grinding of grains – may be covered under the farm’s Organic Producer certificate. If the product undergoes complex processing and is labelled organic on the front panel, an Organic Handler certificate will be required.
If the organic ingredients are only listed in the information panel and those ingredients are grown on the farm, then the Organic Handler certificate is not necessary. For example, farmers can list organic strawberries as an ingredient in the jam if they make jam from organic strawberries that they grow. The certifier will want to review copies of the labels to ensure that they comply with organic regulations.
Source: www.ams.usda.gov
