AHDB Horticulture is inviting growers of edible horticultural crops to a Microbials ‘Keep it Clean’ event, which will be held at Warwick Crop Centre, The University of Warwick on 18 and 19 February 2020. The event, which has been organised in collaboration with the European Union COST ‘HUPLANTcontrol’ project team, will bring together scientists working on fresh produce safety across the EU to the UK, to disseminate current knowledge and best practice to keep fresh produce safe to eat.
AHDB Horticulture has also invited chlorine dioxide water treatment systems’ specialists, to demonstrate best practice disinfection of irrigation water at the event. There will be two practical demonstrations, on disinfecting river water and borehole-abstracted reservoir stored? waters on 18 February 2020, as well talks on ‘How to assess risks, a practical approach’ and ‘How to mitigate against chlorate and perchlorate exceedances, when using chlorine compounds for disinfecting water and equipment and surfaces.’ An update on chlorate and perchlorate MRLs legislation will also be given.
19 February presentations include -
- An introduction to the EU COST ‘HUPLANTcontrol’ project (Leo van Overbeek,
- Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
- Microbiological organisms of most concern in edible crops production (Mike
- Hutchison, Hutchison Scientific)
- Reducing contamination risks during crop production through good hygiene practice
- (Ana Allende, CEBAS-CSIC, Spain)
- Irrigation water quality, application methods and risk management (Jim Monaghan,
- Harper Adams University)
- Risk-based microbiological sampling plans in fresh fruit and vegetables production
- (Mieke Uyttendaele, University of Gent, Belgium)
- Listeria and its management (Mike Hutchison)
There will also be practical and interactive training sessions on how to assess irrigation water for contamination risks; how to trend food safety pathogens and when to take corrective action and; and on how to use the online risk-assessment fresh produce tool on day 2.
The full programme details will be announced early in January 2020, but to help AHDB to plan ahead, please register now by clicking on this link.