BerrySmart
Food Safety

BerrySmart Food Safety promotes blueberry industry-standard food safety practices.

Food safety is a shared priority across the blueberry industry. This resource center provides growers, handlers and industry partners with easy access to tools, guidance and educational materials on key food safety topics, including agricultural water, sanitation, worker hygiene, traceability, audits and regulations.

Use the search bar or browse by topic to find resources that support safe, practical and responsible food safety practices.

PATHOGENS 101 Bacteria Parasites Virus PERSONAL HYGIENE AGRICULTURAL WATER PESTICIDES PROCESS CONTROLS
SANITATION Basics of sanitation In field/Harvesting Packing TESTING TRACEABILITY ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS RECALLS & OUTBREAKS
REGULATIONS & REGULATORY GENERAL RESOURCES GAPS / AUDITS USDA GRADE STANDARDS
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Parasites

Overview of Cyclospora including information on parasite, resources, surveillance and outbreaks of Cyclosporiasis, etc.

CDC’s Cyclospora Page

2023 National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Foods report on Cyclospora cayatanensis

Lengthy, technical review of the pathogen, with a focus on limitations of detection methods in foods, prepared by an expert advisory committee to USDA and FDA.

Read Report

Surveillance of berries sold on the Norwegian market for parasite contamination using molecular methods.

Research survey conducted in Norway of various types of imported berries including 274 blueberry samples, showing levels of 4 parasites. Cyclospora was detected in 5.5.% of blueberries and Cryptosporidium was detected in 3.3%.

Review Survey Results