A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) and the Ministry of Rural Affairs (MRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 5pm.
For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAF website: www.ontario.ca/omaf and/or the MRA website: www.ontario.ca/mra.
Food safety tips for farmers’ markets
Food safety is getting more attention than ever – and with good reason. Fifteen years ago, most people would not have been able to pronounce the microbe ‘Salmonella’, let alone discuss it in everyday conversation.
Outbreaks at home and abroad have raised the public’s concerns about food safety. That means that consumers are far more conscious of how food is produced and handled.
Customers pay attention to such things as:
– The way you prepare and display your food;
– The personal hygiene of you and your employees; and
– The way you construct and keep your stand clean.
If people see things they don’t like, in most cases they won’t tell you.
They simply won’t come back. So what should you do? Make sure you and your employees know how to handle and display food properly.
Two simple tips for food safety at farmers’ markets
1. Keep hands clean
Ensure that all employees who handle produce are aware of why and when they need to wash their hands.
For example: after going to the washroom or after touching their face, animals, money or any other surface that could contaminate their hands.
If a petting zoo is present at farmers’ markets, ensure that customers and employees do not touch the pets and then handle food without washing their hands in between.
Be sure to post hand-washing signs.
2. Use proper containers
Display produce in clean containers. Ensure that containers do not permit access to pests. For example, do not place produce directly on the ground.
Remember: food safety is everyone’s responsibility. Effective food safety programs allow your business to be competitive, and provide safe, high quality products for consumers.
Make sure you take the proper steps to protect people’s safety – before you sell produce to Ontario families.
Heat stress in livestock and poultry app
The University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Rural Affairs, have jointly developed a free app available from Google Play or Blackberry Marketplace that lets you calculate the level of heat stress experienced by livestock.
The App allows producers to calculate the heat stress index on their smart phone by inputting the temperature in C or F and the relative humidity, either at that moment or by inputting the forecast temperature and relative humidity for later in the day.
The producer then gets an output that links them to various management options they can use to reduce the potential heat stress on their animals. Now producers have a tool that readily puts the information they need at their fingertips, anytime, anywhere!
Key Features
– seven types of livestock;
– a variety of ventilation systems;
– three languages: English, French and Spanish
– 5 per cent increments for humidity changes
– two degree increment temperature changes (metric/imperial)
– levels from No Heat Stress to Emergency
– Practical actions to take to reduce the effects of heat stress
Coming events
July 17 – 20: Listowel Fair. For more information contact: 519-291-2776 or website at: www.listowelfair.com;
Aug. 8 – 10: Drayton Fair. For more information contact: 519-638-5093 or website at: www.draytonfair.com;
Aug. 15: Canadian National Exhibition. For more information contact: 416-263-3835 or website at: www.theex.com;
Aug. 23: Grand River Fair and Exhibition, 4-H Dairy Show and Truck and Tractor Pull;
Aug. 22 – 24: Palmerston Fair. For more information contact: 519-343-3427 or website at: www.palmerstonfair.com
Aug. 30: Mount Forest Fair. For more information contact: 519-323-2272 or website at: www.ontariofairs.org/fairs/.
