Richard Ha writes:

E. coli is in the news again, as green onions and now lettuce are now suspected of harboring the bacteria that made many people sick at Taco Bells on the East Coast. This has happened many times before.

We are making sure it doesn’t happen because of us.

Several years ago, we voluntarily became Food Safety Certified. Every year our operations are inspected, and the inspection protocol addresses and eliminates conditions that allow the E. coli bacteria to contaminate food products.

Some of the issues addressed:

There are no domesticated animals allowed in and around our farm.

We use city water for processing and spraying.

Our irrigation water source is fenced and otherwise protected from contamination by wild animals. We test the water source quarterly for E. coli and it has never tested positive. We are in the process of voluntarily testing even more frequently than that. We want to make sure our workers, as well as our customers, feel confident about our procedures.

We provide toilet facilities for all our workers; and soap, wash water and paper towels are provided for them.

Our employees are trained in food handling, food safety procedures and personal hygiene, and classes are documented.

Harvest bins are cleaned, sanitized and then documented. Harvest bins are not allowed to be in contact with the ground. Any fruit/vegetable that falls on the ground is discarded.

We are glad we voluntarily became Food Safety Certified. We always want to be proactive and in the forefront of food safety. We want our customers to rest assured that we are trying to do the right thing at all times.