Product Traceability
Driscoll’s Global Food Safety Program
Audits
Policies
Pesticides
Water
Foreign Object Contamination
Farmer Education and Support
Quality Assurance
How to Contact Us
Driscoll’s has made food safety the single most important focus of our berry growing program. Our primary concern is for the wholesomeness of our product and the safety of our berry consumers, our employees, our independent farmers and their workers.
One of our highest priorities is to continually build on our industry leadership in food safety standards. This is our commitment to ensure that we always provide you with the freshest, safest, most flavorful berries.
Product Traceability—New in 2009
Driscoll’s is introducing a new Track My Berries program beginning in mid-2009 that will allow you to trace your berries back to the date of harvest. Simply go to www.driscolls.com and enter the 12-digit HarvestMark code found on the bottom label. You will be able to learn about the farm where your berries were grown, and find nutrition information, recipe ideas, and other helpful tips.
We look forward to sharing with you the story of the places, people and passion that goes into growing every package of Driscoll’s berries.
Driscoll’s Global Food Safety Program
Our berries are grown, harvested and shipped with the highest standards of care possible. Driscoll’s Global Food Safety Program has been developed over decades of research, consumer feedback and close cooperation with food safety experts as well as state, federal and international regulatory agencies. It is founded on the principles of Good Agriculture Practices (GAPs) established by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and GLOBALGAP requirements, and is uniformly enforced at all of our farms, cooling and distribution facilities around the world.
Audits
As part of our Global Food Safety program, Driscoll’s audits every farm and facility around the world for food safety, environmental welfare and the fair and ethical treatment of workers. Scheduled and random audits are performed by a certified, independent third-party agency to ensure adherence to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for food safety set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) and GLOBALGAP standards for proper working conditions, worker and environmental welfare.
Our Global Food Safety Program audits are performed in the fields, cooling facilities and distribution facilities to monitor soil, water, fertilizer use, pest control methods, harvest practices and food safety and security procedures. In accordance with GLOBALGAP, audits are performed regarding employee working conditions, safety and hygiene, environmental issues like chemical use, storage and disposal, water and waste management, damage to animal habitats and conservation of natural resources.
Driscoll’s has performed over 1,400 independent third-party audits in the last 12 months through a certified, independent third-party laboratory.
The frequency and extent of Driscoll’s auditing program demonstrates our commitment to the highest standards of food safety, as well as worker and environmental welfare.
Policies
Adherence to Driscoll’s Global Food Safety Program policies is a vital component of our independent farmer contractual relationships. We educate our independent farmers about company policy and enforce strict adherence. Our independent farmers are responsible for knowing and strictly adhering to federal, state and local food safety regulations. If inconsistencies are discovered, we investigate the potential violation with the farmer. Driscoll’s strives for immediate resolution of any non-compliance issues. Each farmer is aware that non-compliance carries consequences, including termination of their association with Driscoll’s.
Pesticides
In the United States, federal and state laws strictly regulate the use of pesticides. U.S. EPA, U.S. FDA, and state and county regulatory agencies all have regulatory jurisdiction governing the safe use of pesticides. All independent farmers around the world who grow Driscoll’s brand berries must adhere to the same U.S. EPA and U.S. FDA laws and standards.
Driscoll’s independent farmers are leaders in the practice of Integrated Pest Management, which uses a combination of natural and synthetic means to reduce disease and control pests. IPM employs constant field monitoring and can also include the use of beneficial organisms to control damaging pests. Driscoll’s independent farmers are free to choose which Integrated Pest Management method(s) they use. Regardless of the pest control method used, any pesticide used must be in compliance with federal and state laws, and must comply with the registration policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They must also be within the legal pesticide tolerances established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Driscoll’s has made a commitment to significantly increase the production of organic berries and utilize our experience in organic farming to reduce the use of synthetic materials (including pesticides) in all of our products. For additional information on specific pesticides available for use by farmers, please refer to the U.S. EPA’s website.
Water
Irrigation water in all of our growing regions comes primarily from wells or municipal sources. Driscoll’s farmers do not use canal water to irrigate their plants. Microbial levels in irrigation water are monitored annually at every farm. All the independent farmers around the world who grow Driscoll’s berries must adhere to the same stringent water quality standards.
Microbial contamination can originate from three primary sources: water, people or animals. Driscoll’s addresses microbial contamination from water through annual audits that test irrigation water. Contamination by people is addressed through scheduled and random harvest crew audits that verify compliance with best hygiene practices. Animal contamination is controlled by keeping animals out of fields through a variety of methods. If microbial levels above allowed government tolerances are found in any berries, those berries are destroyed.
Foreign Object Contamination
Driscoll’s strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are hand picked and packaged in the field. Harvest crews are routinely audited to be sure their clothing is free of foreign objects that might accidentally fall into a package. To ensure the utmost quality and freshness, the berries are not touched again until opened by consumers. Blueberries are placed in the consumer containers in packing sheds and are carefully monitored for any foreign objects or debris.
Driscoll’s is fully registered and compliant with the requirements of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. We maintain contact with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) in order to comply with this and all other regulations.
Farmer Education and Support
Information sharing helps our independent farmers excel. Driscoll’s Quality Assurance and Food Safety departments have more than 65 full-time employees who monitor fruit quality and work closely with farmers to ensure that the standards of Driscoll’s Global Food Safety Program are met. Driscoll’s farmers receive high scores on food safety, and worker and environmental welfare audits. By sharing their best practices, Driscoll’s independent farmers are able to grow the safest, fresh, most flavorful berries possible all year-round.
Quality Assurance
Driscoll’s berries are grown, harvested and shipped with the highest standards of care possible, regardless of where they are grown. We routinely audit all our farms and facilities around the world to ensure that we comply with and exceed national and international food safety rules. Every batch of berries we produce is inspected for quality and appearance by our highly trained staff to ensure they are fresh and delicious when they reach our customers. Our berries are cooled immediately after they leave the field and are not handled by anyone other than the consumer. This reduces bruising and maintains the berries’ wholesomeness throughout transportation. We are committed to providing consumers with useful information about where Driscoll’s berries are grown. Country of origin information is clearly stated on every product label and we support voluntary labeling programs that offer consumers more information about our products.
Driscoll’s has a barcode-based inventory tracking system in place to identify the field and harvest date of all fruit. In the rare event of a product quality concern or recall, Driscoll’s can quickly identify what product is affected, determine the product source (area/farm), investigate the issue and if necessary, retrieve the product throughout the distribution chain. Driscoll’s is continually investigating technical improvements to our product trace-back capabilities.
How to Contact Us
You are our most important link to the success and growth of our Driscoll’s berry product line and we welcome your feedback. If you have any comments, please contact us immediately and we will do all we can to answer any question you may have.
Consumer feedback and rapid response are an important part of Driscoll’s Global Food Safety Program. Driscoll’s toll-free call center is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (in the U.S. and Canada) at 1-800-871-3333 to receive feedback from consumers in the unlikely event that a contaminant is found in one of our products.