Billions of dollars in the economy and the health of millions of people in Washington state depend on safe-to-eat foods in grocery stores, farmers markets, and restaurants.
Three Washington State University Extension professionals work to ensure that meals and snacks are safe to consume in Washington state and beyond. For them, proper food safety practices begin in the orchards and fields where food is grown and continue through food preparation then finally to your plate.
Food safety in Washington’s fields, orchards, and packinghouses
“Strategies to minimize food safety risks begin prior to harvest and continue during harvest and packing, as well as through transport to the consumer,” said Claire Murphy, assistant professor and Extension specialist in produce safety. “That’s because cherries, apples, or other produce does not have a ‘kill’ step, such as cooking, prior to reaching consumers.”
Murphy works with Washington’s fresh produce industry, including tree fruit and small fruit, to help producers improve food safety programs and meet federal requirements for training and food safety.
Washington state is the number one producer of apples and sweet cherries nationwide, and many tree fruit products are exported internationally. A recall or outbreak can lead to a loss of consumer trust and huge economic losses that reverberate across local, national, and international markets. Murphy’s work is a safeguard against these types of recalls.
“We saw this scenario play out recently nationwide with the E. coli outbreak in lettuce,” Murphy said. “While the outbreak was from lettuce from a distinct growing region, not many people look at the exact producer and region of the implicated lettuce when they’re shopping — they just avoid purchasing lettuce altogether. The entire lettuce industry took a huge hit economically.”
Based at the WSU Prosser Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, she mentors graduate students and assists on research projects with Extension professionals nationwide, in addition to providing food safety training and technical assistance throughout the Northwest and beyond.
Ensuring food processing safety
Fruits and vegetables that are not destined for the fresh market become ingredients in processed foods.
Girish Ganjyal, a professor with WSU’s Food Processing Extension and Research unit, picks up where Murphy leaves off, working to ensure the food processing stage is safe. Food processing is the “value addition” stage of food preparation for ag products.
“I provide technical expertise and advisement to producers, food processors, restaurants, statewide Extension offices, processing kitchens, and industry partners to safely extend the shelf life of these value-added products,” Ganjyal said. “By processing foods, companies or small growers can charge more, so it benefits people and companies economically.”
Ganjyal’s work takes him to locales throughout the Pacific Northwest and the world. Locally, he is advising the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation on a new community processing kitchen they are designing with U.S. Department of Agriculture funding.
“They shared the processing kitchen’s blueprints with me, and we’re determining the proper equipment and layout for safe food preparation,” Ganjyal said.
Similar to Murphy, Ganjyal has a research appointment with WSU in addition to his Extension appointment.
“Because I work closely with food producers, I know the needed research areas and gaps in knowledge,” Ganjyal said. “My research typically informs the work I do via my university Extension appointment. We thrive on collaborations internally at WSU and externally with our stakeholders. It is amazing to interact and work with all the hardworking people in the field.”
By integrating food processing and food safety practices recommended by Ganjyal, some companies experience greater profits. In one example of value-added fruit processing, Ganjyal saw nearly $10 million added to a company’s earnings by integrating WSU Extension food processing expertise.
“Every year, we service at least 100 products,” he said. “We’ve helped sales go up, we’ve partnered with industry to help develop new products, and we assess new ingredients’ viability or functionality in the end products you might buy, like pancake mixes.”
Food safety in direct-to-consumer markets
WSU Associate Professor Stephanie Smith is an Extension consumer food safety specialist who teaches courses in food science and safety to graduate and undergraduate students. Her research focuses on interventions that control pathogen growth and toxin production in foods.
Through her Extension appointment, Smith also works with those selling at farmers markets, food establishments, through community supported agriculture, or other direct-to-consumer markets to improve safety. Additionally, she educates faculty and staff in county Extension offices so they can provide food safety and food preservation education to consumers, furthering the statewide reach of her work.
Smith understands the toll of annual foodborne illness in Washington state better than most.
“More than 1 million people in Washington are affected by foodborne illness yearly,” Smith said. “More than 300,000 will face lifelong health issues.”
The cost to the state is more than $400 million per year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Washington population density. But Smith emphasized that these health outcomes and lost dollars are largely preventable.
“My goal is to equip the public and businesses with knowledge in food safety best practices so they can keep themselves and their families safe,” she said.
Through Extension education, nearly 100% of businesses have reported improved food safety in their operations. Nearly 60% indicated that inspection scores conducted by Washington state regulatory agencies improved.
“Claire, Girish, and I support each other and interact closely to cover the entire food system, from planting to processing to the dining room table,” Smith said. “It’s absolutely fantastic the way we work together.”
Further information
Learn more at the WSU Extension Consumer Food Safety website. Through outreach, research, and education, WSU Extension is working to provide a more secure food supply for Washington state and the world, creating a more Resilient Washington.