Assuring Produce Safety: CFA publishes microbiological guidance for growers – 2nd edition (Nov 2007)

…of the key principles throughout the ready-to-eat fresh produce sector.” CFA Produce Working Group Chairman, Mr Greg Hunn (Greencore) said: “By bringing together growers and users of produce in an…

Produce washing

…quality of salad produce. Download CFA’s Produce Wash Protocol and Produce Decontamination Assessment Protocol (Part 2: Washwater Validation). CFA’s Micro Guidance for Growers sets out how to minimise the opportunity…

Joining Red Tractor to drive fresh produce quality

Red Tractor (RT), the UK’s largest food and farm chain assurance scheme, has brought together a refreshed Fresh Produce Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and is focusing on high-risk produce. A…

Relevance of Bacillus to chilled prepared foods including chilled produce

…foods prepared using 90°C/10” max is low Important note re fresh produce B. cereus testing is not relevant to fresh produce as the methods will pick up BT (B. thuringiensis…

SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRICULTURE/FRESH PRODUCE

Sustainability in Agriculture/Fresh Produce The Chilled Food Association (CFA) defines ‘Sustainability’ as: Meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs[1]. This means…

Managing impacts of adverse weather on fresh produce crops

…was trialled in summer 2023 by CFA Members, addresses issues posed by adverse weather events which are increasing in frequency. Such weather can disrupt supply of fresh produce, affecting its…

Simplifying risk assessment for fresh produce

Anyone working in fresh produce will be interested to hear about a new resource to help with risk assessments to assure Good Agricultural Practice and food safety, including irrigation water…

New activities on fresh produce intended to be eaten raw

CFA is developing a new online E.coli data collection system for its member companies. Data collected will focus on raw material and on irrigation water used to grow fresh produce…

CFA Updates and Revises its Internationally Influential Microbiological Guidance for Growers (MGG4)

…outbreaks of disease linked to produce, as indicated by the examples of pathogens relevant to produce in MGG4. “However, implementing the recommendations in this guidance will help growers to minimise…

Controlled Environment Agriculture and ‘Vertical Farming’

…Farming (VF) has encouraged new operators into the sector. Some of these may not have relevant fresh produce experience. Additionally, businesses using produce from vertical farms may not be aware…

MEMBERS

…further refinancing and now sit as the Oscar Mayer UK Holdco Group with the introduction of a new CEO and Exec Board. PDM Produce (UK) Ltd www.pdmproduce.co.uk PDM Produce (UK)…

Food & Biocides Industry Group (FBIG)

…dairy (2/3/21) Supporting Produce-Related Guidance: CFA (2010). Protocol for Produce Washing. Second Edition CFA (2010). Produce Decontamination Assessment Protocol: Part 1 – Attachment CFA (2010). Produce Decontamination Assessment Protocol:…

CFA welcomes revised FSA advice on re-washing RTE leafy salads (12 March 2008)

…additional washing of fresh produce provides little additional benefit in reducing contamination2. Using published data and information provided by CFA, FSA and ACMSF have reviewed the evidence and decided that…

PUBLICATIONS

…Jan 2021) – download CFA Produce washing protocol – download CFA Produce Decontamination protocol: Part 2 – washwater validation – download CFA Handwash Poster (Polish) – download CFA Handwash Poster…

Farming – the only way is up?

Increasing demands on land space is leading to significant interest in the potential for new ways to farm certain types of fresh produce. One new method currently attracting attention is…

PRESENTATIONS

…Getting it Right CFA and Fresh Produce Chilled Food Auditing Requirements Think About Chilled Food (careers) Fresh Produce Safety Assurance CFA and Fresh Produce – British Herb Trade Association annual…

CFA Spot Buying Protocol

CFA members are required to use raw materials sourced from reputable approved suppliers, and therefore have procedures in place for their approval. For produce this includes compliance with CFA’s…

EU MICRO CRITERIA REG

…Egg Products Fishery Products and Shellfish Produce Process Hygiene Criteria Meat and products thereof Milk and dairy products Infant formula and dried dietary foods for infants for special medical purposes…

CFA Net Zero Ambition Statement

…are from the sector’s own sites (‘Scope 1’). Agricultural emissions currently pose the biggest challenge as we source produce globally, dependent upon the season. The majority of process emissions are…

CFA Annual Report 2023

…fresh produce Spot Buying and Extreme Weather Protocol Guidance published B. cereus and chilled food including produce: technical paper and statement published. CFA’s priorities for 2023 cover: Education/skills Building knowledge…

Chlorate and Hygiene Biocides

…will prove invaluable. They include details of how businesses can develop a statement of compliance, using practical examples such as the contributory factors to presence of traces from produce, grain,…

HANDLING OF CHILLED FOODS AT HOME

…the fridge until they are ready to be eaten. Prewashed prepared produce such as salad leaf should not be re-washed as it may become cross-contaminated. See more about fresh produce…

‘A New Association for a New Generation of Food’–25 Years of the CFA

…foods. Whilst we are all familiar with these innovations, the companies behind them largely remain anonymous. They produce own label brands for all the major supermarkets and many other outlets….

Free Whole Genome Sequencing Webinar 27 February 2020 – Register Now

…Turkey Federation, North American Meat Institute, Peanut and Tree Nut Processors, Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Produce Association, U.S. Poultry and Egg Association and Western Growers Association. This series contains…

CFA publishes overview of agricultural sustainability initiatives

…25 Year Environment Plan is one of these. It requires food to be produced sustainably and also sets a number of environmental targets. The Government has also stated its intention…

CFA responds to ACMSF Report on Botulinum Neurotoxin-Producing Clostridia

…and produce toxin, so foods stored at less than 3°C are outside the scope of this guidance.” Unfortunately this is not explicit enough wording, creating an apparent grey area where…

CFA Briefing – Relevance of generic E coli (inc testing issues) to food safety

…referring to fresh produce and is also relevant to all food types. With sections including transmission, testing and prevention it concludes: A positive for E. coli O157 alone may not…

On the road to net zero

…drink manufacturing sites and transport refrigeration units, TICR will produce roadmaps, benchmarks, sector-specific guidance and training events to help direct the sectors to net zero. A website has been launched,…

Spot buying protocol

…and quality. CFA’s new Spot Buying Protocol is now available as a free download from the CFA website and is applicable to all purchasers of fresh produce that is intended…

CFA Publishes 2022 Annual Report

…E. coli and STEC testing to food safety, ethical employment in agriculture and food production and sustainability in agriculture and fresh produce. Vac Pack/MAP foods: CFA gave evidence to the…

Consequences of Lm zero tolerance/not detected in 25g policy

…goal, however, for certain foods e.g. raw produce and minimally processed foods not processed in pack or handled post-processing in making a final food, it is an unrealistic and unattainable…

EU proposed changed Listeria criteria consultation open to 8 May

…ND at the point of last control by the producer. The industry position, substantiated by epidemiological evidence, is that the current law is effective when it is enforced including commercially,…

Going on camera with the British Nutrition Foundation

Chilled Education was invited by the BNF (British Nutrition Foundation) to produce a video to be used in its Teaching Primary Food and Nutrition professional development programme. With the help…

Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes – Control and Legislation

…limit of 100 cfu/g throughout the remaining shelf life, will result in many practical problems, in particular when products are produced in one MS and distributed in another. It may…

STEC outbreak highlights deficiencies in test methods

…direct microbiological evidence has confirmed any specific source, food or food ingredient, or its origin. . “It would be highly exceptional for short shelf-life foods, produced to world-leading standards, and…

CFA Annual Report 2024

…WhatsApp group established for information exchange. CFA action plan being progressed. RTE fresh produce: risk assessment mindmap and water/crop sampling decision tree developed, Micro Guidance for Growers (4th ed) in…

New Pan-European project on food safety

…at grains and fresh produce AMBROSIA will aim to model climate-related risks and their impact on every aspect of the food chain from farm to fork. Dr Rachel Hackett attended…

New Inspirational Career Paths

…the age of 16. As Fresh Produce Technical Manager he is a long way from his Art Foundation degree but he has no regrets about the path his career has…

CFA: Best practice in the preparation of beetroot and onion for minimally processed, RTE applications

In response to CFA members’ request this downloadable free best practice guidance on beetroot and onion has been developed for chilled food producers who are using raw salad and vegetable…

WHAT WE DO

…We produce a range of best practice publications, covering: Hygiene and food safety assurance Raw material controls Factory management Supply chain management Product design Regulations Science We play a co-ordinating…

Relaunched website for the chilled food industry (Nov 2007)

…on confidential CFA projects and research; contingency planning and support. The UK chilled food industry leads the world in the standards and systems used to produce chilled prepared foods….

GM

…(EC) No 1829/2003 and No 1830/2003) requires that the list of ingredients must indicate “genetically modified” or “produced from genetically modified [name of the organism]”. In the case of products…

Labelling

Labelling EU-wide controls on food labelling were introduced with Directive 79/112 in 1979. Over two decades additional controls were added and amendments introduced to produce a complex array of…

Carbon Footprint Labelling

…produce some components, e.g. seasonings, may have a large number of subcomponents, e.g. spices and herbs the same product can be prepared using different cooking techniques at point of consumption,…

FOOD SAFETY

…produce a synergistic effect, i.e. the combination of the two factors as hurdles reduces microbiological growth to a greater than expected or calculated extent. Relatively small changes to both hurdles…

Advantages of chilled foods

…ingredients in their recipes. This gives a wider variety of choice than with some frozen and ambient foods where fresh ingredients such as fresh produce, are unsuitable for the preservation…

CFA celebrates 20 years (18 June 2009)

…Commons Agriculture Committee in its inquiry on the then proposed Food Standards Agency. 2000 – CFA gives evidence to the European Commission on assuring produce safety. 2001 – Food Industry…

Keeping affordable food on tables

…substitution requiring ongoing flexibility of labelling options. Crops have also been affected by the UK’s record-breaking summer temperatures adding to stresses on supply of fresh produce, other crops and animal…

Sustainability position statements published

…stakeholders. The full position statement can be found here Sustainability in agriculture and fresh produce Agriculture plays a unique role in the drive towards sustainability in the supply of chilled…

Chlorate MRLs: Best Practice Guidance for FBOs

…MRLs, inclusion of the EU legal definition of ‘processed’ foods, and special rules for processed foods. See FBIG’s Chlorate MRLs Compliance Best Practice Pointers for FBOs – fresh produce primary…

COVID hasn’t cooled the chilled food market

CFA has released 2020 market data commissioned from Kantar, charting sales of chilled foods ranging from prepared produce to chilled cake. The market has not been immune to the effects…

Connecting through the virtual world

…invited by the British Herb Trade Association to kickstart their new food safety group. She presented on 25 years of CFA fresh produce safety assurance work. 15 April 2021…

Brexit

…for Responsible Nutrition UK Dairy UK Fresh Produce Consortium Foodchain and Biomass Renewables Association Health Food Manufacturers Association International Meat Trade Association National Farmers Union of England and Wales Nut…

Chilled Sector Sustainability Aims

…Agriculture and Food Production Sustainability in Agriculture/Fresh Produce Overview of agricultural sustainability initiatives Chilled prepared food sector progress and barriers for information on mitigation measures implemented by the sector and…

CHILLED FOODS

CFA member companies currently produce more than 15,000 different chilled prepared foods, mostly every day, such as: Recipe Dishes/ready meals Meal Accompaniments Fresh Pasta Chilled Pizza Delicatessen Products (e.g. samosas)…

CFA September 2025 Newsletter

In this issue: CFA and technical Joining Red Tractor to drive fresh produce quality Listeria – the truth around regulation changes Meal redistribution news STEC workstreams underway SPS agreement negotiations…