Using good hygiene practices in vegetable production in greenhouses

Growing interest in healthy diets has led to demand for the year-round availability of fresh fruits and vegetables and need for all actors in the food supply continuum, including in greenhouses, to be aware of the vulnerability of fresh produce to various food safety hazards (biological, chemical and physical).

As part of the project “Smart Farming for Future Generation", funded by the Republic of Korea, FAO provides support to strengthen food safety in greenhouses operations in Viet Nam. In this context, FAO Food Safety Officer Eleonora Dupouy has undertaken a technical backstopping mission in the last week of September 2022 to Moc Chau to assess the operations along the greenhouse value chain. In particular, from hygiene practices perspective, she recommended procedures appropriate for each site to improve the handling practices at the selected small-scale businesses involved in the pilot project.

Good hygiene practices are necessary to prevent the production and placement on the market of contaminated produce that can cause foodborne illness to consumers and economic losses to producers.

“Safe food starts with quality and safety of inputs used in the field,” Dupouy said, referring to seeds, water, fertilizers and agrochemicals that protect plants. “Good hygiene practices are an essential part of good agricultural practices,” she said.

During technical consultation meetings with the Fruits and Vegetables Research Institute (FAVRI) in Hanoi, the steps and methodology for the elaboration a national guide on good hygiene practices in greenhouses was discussed. Food hygiene is critical for smallholder value chains to help prevent contamination of fresh produce and control the relevant food safety hazards on farms. Considering that most leafy vegetables and other fresh produce in Viet Nam are produced by smallholders, a guide to good hygienic practices will serve as a scalable tool to share knowledge, support greenhouse agrifood businesses, disseminate project results and increase compliance with food hygiene rules in greenhouses throughout the country, Dupouy explained.

The elaboration of the GHP guide for greenhouses in Viet Nam will build on:

• the Codex Alimentarius Code of Hygiene Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
• Codex Alimentarius General Principles for Food Hygiene
• JEMRA reports:
  • Microbiological Hazards in Fresh Leafy Vegetables and Herbs: meeting report
  • Safety and Quality of Water Used in Food Production and Processing: meeting report
  • Safety and Quality of Water used with Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
• VietGAP Standard and other relevant resources.
   

Read more about FAO’s work in Viet Nam