Premises

Q. What are the food safety requirements when dealing with a glass greenhouse as opposed to a plastic greenhouse?

A. There is no difference in requirements. In Section 18.2 Harvesting - The requirement is that a visual inspection is to be conducted before product is harvested. Employees visually inspect the product and surrounding area for glass and if glass is observed (e.g., broken panes, bulbs), the employee immediately ceases harvesting and reports to the producer or person responsible. Whether it be a glass or plastic greenhouse, there would be the need for this glass inspection.


Q. Walls in a packing shed, which were less than a foot from the packing line, were partially covered with black plastic held in place with strips of wood lath. Is this acceptable? The plastic is sanitized on a regular basis.

A. Section 2.3 Building Interior Assessment, Cleaning, Maintenance, Repair and Inspection pertains to the interior of the packinghouse. The requirement is that walls, floors and ceilings are without crevices along with Form G that requires no holes/crevices/leaks in the building (e.g., walls, windows, screens) and floors, walls and ceilings that are clean and free from garbage, spills, rodent droppings, etc. There are no specific requirements for what the materials may be on the walls. Therefore, the plastic/wood scenario would be acceptable as long as they were able to clean it.