Pest Management for Food Safety and Organic Integrity
The emphasis on food safety has never been greater in my 40 year association with the industry. Structural pest management has been long held as an essential food safety perquisite program. Yet the use of pesticides and the perspective of what is safe remains a point of high conjecture. The food industry relies on the pest control industry for guidance, yet the perspective of pesticide use varies depending on the practitioner's experience.
With the implementation of the USDA’s Organic Food Production Act of 1990 and the current landscape of for safety under the Global Food Safety Initiative, the landscape for pest management in food facilities has changed. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) laid the groundwork for reducing pesticide use but in many ways fails to provide an adequate working model for pest control.
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) lays the groundwork for standardizing practices and requires a strict documentation throughout the production and processing of food products.
The Organic Food Product act requires the use of non-toxic practices first and details which materials may be used and which are prohibited in the production and processing of organic commodities.
All of these requirement creates a structure for what needs to be accomplished in Structural Pest Management, but does not pay a clear picture of how to do it. Further, how these elements needs to be integrated with each other and within the scope of the food safety plan.
Pest management is an essential prerequisite program in and food safety program. Proper design of a program to conform to third party standards, problem solving techniques utilizing Root Cause Analysis and understanding of Organic Practices are essential to the proper implementation of a structural Pest Management program.
This book should not only provide additional insights and background for Pest Management Practitioners, but should prove to provide valuable insights and perspectives for quality assurance, food safety personnel and inspectors and auditors alike.
L. Ernest Otter, III has spent over 40 years in the pest management industry and 25 years as a food safety advisory and mentor. In that time he has prepared and managed countless food safety programs for clients, As well as presenting the first paper on Organic structural Pest management at the International Federation of Agriculture Movement's 13th annual Scientific Conference.
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