Food Safety Procedures by Natural Selection Foods

Natural Selection Foods was formed by the founders of popular organic produce brand Earthbound Farm and Mission Ranches. In 1999, Tanimura & Antle, another longtime family-run farming company joined the company. As the specialty salad pioneer, Natural Selection Foods and its grower-partners have developed consistent quality and year-round availability of once-obscure gourmet greens, making them a staple on salad plates everywhere. 

After the 2006 tainted spinach problem, many farmers and food processors faced regulators' and consumers' demand for greater food safety.  According to Natural Selection, they have adjusted their food safety program in the following ways:

1. In the Field, From Seed to Harvest

Food safety and quality assurance must begin where the produce grows, even though nature is difficult to control. 

Now, every lot of salad greens that enters our facility is lab-tested for E. coli and salmonella.
• Our seeds are tested for pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella, before planting.*
• We test and monitor water sources for harmful bacteria.*
• We test soil amendments and composted materials for pathogens.*
• We regularly monitor environmental conditions in and around the field.
• Our field harvesters are thoroughly trained in Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to achieve our strict standards and ensure proper sanitation.
• We make frequent, unannounced inspections of our growers’ fields, harvest equipment, and produce transport vehicles to verify compliance with our safety program.
• Our salad greens are refrigerated within an hour of harvest and kept cold continuously (what’s known as “the cold chain”) as they go through our processing facility.

*100% grower compliance by April 30, 2007

2. At the Facility, We Test & Hold

Because produce is grown outdoors in an open environment, it’s important to prevent any contamination that might occur in the field from entering our facility. Test & Hold acts as a “firewall” between the field and our facility. No matter where in the environment pathogens might originate, Test & Hold helps keep contamination our of our processing stream.

• We lab-test salad greens arriving at our facility for pathogenic E. coli and salmonella.
• We hold all greens out of processing until the tests are completed.
• We destroy any greens in which we detect evidence of pathogens.
• Only those greens cleared by testing are released into our facility for processing.

3. Processing Our Salad Greens

Daily Cleaning and Sanitation

• Our facility is designed to make our comprehensive daily sanitation procedures efficient and effective.
• Every employee in our processing plant completes rigorous Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) training to ensure they maintain our high food safety standards.
• Everyone in our plant wears protective clothing (gloves, hair and beard nets, long sleeves, smocks, hard hats) to prevent unprotected contact with the greens.

The Unbroken Cold Chain

• To maintain the highest quality and safety, our cold chain begins at harvest and continues until the packaged salads are loaded onto refrigerated trucks for delivery.

Careful Sorting and Washing

• Our custom-designed equipment inspects, washes, and dries our delicate salad greens without damaging them.
• Greens are sorted as they enter the wash line to remove weeds and undesirable leaves.
• Non-leafy items like roots and twigs are ejected by state-of-the-art optical sorters.
• The greens are thoroughly washed and sanitized in chilled, chlorinated water meeting National Organic Program standards before they’re packaged.

4. The Final Check: Packaged Salads

As a final safety assurance, we Test & Hold packaged salads, too.

• Once off the processing line, packaged salads are tested for pathogenic E. coli and salmonella.
• All product is held until cleared by testing, then it’s prepared for shipment.

Our Food Safety Program is Validated by Independent Monitoring

• Independent certified labs perform continuous testing in our facility to verify the effectiveness of our sanitation program.
• We’re part of the USDA’s voluntary Qualified Through Verification (QTV) program, which audits our Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) procedures with unannounced on-site visits.
• Our processing facility is certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), a USDA-accredited agent.
• Our entire food safety program is constantly monitored by our Scientific Advisory Panel, which includes some of the country’s leading food safety experts.

These are extreme measures by food producers to manage the millions of pounds of product they manage and distribute.  But the job of food safety doesn't stop there.  Consumers, too, share responsibilities to make careful selections, store the food in safe conditions, prepare it properly so that it doesn't get contaminated with kitchen bacteria, and eat it with a balanced diet to maintain health and vigor!

Remember, fresh produce is perishable — for safety and quality, keep produce cold!