Frozen Vegetables Are Food Safe
24 09 2007How safe is our imported frozen vegetables from China, Thailand, Viet Nam, India etc.?
Frozen vegetables are probably the safest food we can eat from a Food Safety point of view. When we deal with a China supplier we ensure that they have HACCP in place and have been certified by their government authority. In addition many of the suppliers have ISO9001:2000 as well as the HACCP. Many of our customers also require that the factory have a 3rd party audit such as BRC, AIB, SGS, SAFE or one of the other auditing agencies. In addition each shipment is accompanied by a Certificate Of Analysis (COA), microbiological testing for Standard Plate Count, E. Coli, Coliform just to name a few.
The same is true if we are exporting food to Japan, China, Australia. Our frozen vegetables shipments are all accompanied with the COA.
The problem may arise when a price buyer imports or exports product from a marginal factory, with out doing due diligence, and then their is the potential for problems. When this happens it makes the country or industry look bad as we are now witnessing from the “Made in China” syndrome.
In the end all food has some risk factor and we all should share in the responsibility to educate food safety. In frozen vegetables with the care taken to blanch the vegetables, which kill the bacteria, we have minimal risk compared to other segments of the food chain.
The key of course is to know you supplier, regardless of country, and ensure that they are following the proper procedures to provide as close as possible to a risk free vegetable to the consumer.
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