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United Fresh Produce GAPs Meeting
Tuesday, February 24 - Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Hilton Washington Dulles Airport
13869 Park Center Road
Herndon 20171
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United Fresh announces a public meeting on FDA’s Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (aka GAPs Guide). FDA intends to update the GAPs Guide, originally published in 1998. Changes will affect all growers-shippers and all fresh produce commodities – asparagus and apples to watermelons and zucchini; root crops, row crops, bush and tree crops; large operations and small; across the U.S. and imports. This meeting is to enable and collect detailed input from the fresh produce industry, particularly from those responsible for food safety programs for production and harvest operations.
The meeting will begin with presentations on the origin of the current GAPs Guide, how the Guide has been used and adapted for regulatory and industry purposes, and benefits and obstacles in the Guide from the perspective of auditors and educators. Presentations will be followed by several concurrent breakout sessions of all attendees. Each breakout will be provided a series of related questions to discuss. The questions cover different perspectives of how the GAPs Guide and its use can be improved. Attendees will have a chance to share their views on questions like “Do companies’ food safety plans have to be written?”, “What changes would make the GAPs easier to adopt?” and “Should GAPs be mandatory for all operations?”
The following morning, we will reconvene for reports by the group leaders on what transpired and recommendations from their groups. These comments will be collected for submission to FDA for their consideration.
Related Files:
Registration Includes:
Please note that there is a nominal $95 registration fee to offset meeting expenses.
Who Should Attend:
This is a public meeting; all stakeholders are welcome. Small and very small operations are particularly encouraged to attend.
Meeting Attire:
Casual/Business Casual
Cancellation and Other Policies:
Cancellations must be submitted no later than one week prior to the start date of the seminar to be issued a refund, less a $25 cancellation fee. Company substitutions are acceptable at no charge.
To cancel, make a substitution or verify registration, call Julie Jacocks at (202) 303-3400 x405 or email her at
jjacocks@unitedfresh.org.
General Hotel Information:
A block of hotel rooms have been made at the:
Hilton Washington Dulles Airport
13869 Park Center Road
Herndon, VA 20171
Tel: 1-703-478-2900
Fax: 1-703-478-9286
United Fresh has secured a special hotel rate of $179/ night. To take advantage of this rate, please call 703-478-2900 OR 1-800-HILTONS OR go on www.washingtondulles.hilton.com and reference reservation code is "UFP".
***The Cut-off date to make reservations is Friday, February 13, 2009***
For more information please contact:
Julie Jacocks
Education Manager
United Fresh Produce Association
Phone: (202) 303-3405
Fax: (202) 303-3433
E-mail: jjacocks@unitedfresh.org
