Xgenex and Food Safety Resources to commercialise software for produce industry
The produce rule creates ‘significant new work’ and record keeping requirements for fruit, vegetable and nut growers with operations that exceed $25,000 in annual sales, the firms said.
Jennifer Peracchi Harmon, CEO and founder of Food Safety Resources, said through the agreement it is expanding the commercial footprint of its cloud-based, website and mobile app software to meet the needs of agriculture and grower members.
"Growers need an affordable, fast and easy to implement solution that ensures compliance with these new laws that protect the public from foodborne illness,” she said.
“With recent events of foodborne illnesses associated with fresh produce we feel especially fortunate to have a proven solution that will allow all growers, large and small, conventional and organic, to have access to a powerful resource that is affordable and meets all of the new requirements of FSMA.”
The software features real-time log activity to record activities, admin visibility, best practices, policies and procedures, training material and standard operating procedures documentation and risk assessments.
Jim Byron, CEO of Xgenex, said it is important for the nut and produce industries to see and evaluate the technology first-hand.
"In an age of increasing legal responsibility, social networking, heightened transparency and sustainability in food production, fruit and vegetable producers now have a dependable ‘hand-held app’ technology that assures compliance with the new laws, is easy to use, and is available at a low cost,” he said.
"Now that the laws have been passed and rules are being finalized, it is critical that the industry and growers have the tools necessary to comply with the law and also see a business value for investments in new technology.”
