A new industry-led, not-for-profit company, Fresh Produce Safety Centre, has been formed and one of its charters is to avoid food safety incidents such as those that have occurred overseas.
Fresh food is vulnerable to disease because, unlike processed food, there is no kill step.
An outbreak of listeriosis in rockmelons in the United States killed 33 people in 2011, and in 2006 the US also saw an outbreak of e-coli associated with spinach that killed three people.
The new centre has been funded by a number of organisations including the Produce Marketing Association Australia-New Zealand (PMA), the University of Sydney, and Horticulture Australia Limited.
The new centre will also be focused on horticultural research, and on encouraging more people into this field.
