List of Accomplishments

February 2012

• Official announcement of the formation of the SSA

• Organizing and Steering Committees formed

May 2012

• A Sharefile system was established for the Alliance to enable the sharing of content between participants

• Joy Johanson discussed the SSA in a presentation at the Capital Area Food Protection Association in Washington, DC on May 17

• A Steering Committee meeting was held in Rosemont, IL on May 30 and 31, where attendees discussed the approach to curriculum development and training, and the Technical and Education & Outreach Working Groups were formed

June 2012

• The SSA website was launched, and populated with resources, Alliance information, and contact details for interested stakeholders

• Technical Working Group biweekly conference calls initiated, with participants including sprout growers, seed suppliers, retail representatives, academia, federal and state government representatives, auditing specialists, consultants and testing companies, from U.S.A., Canada and Mexico.  Purpose of the conference calls is to discuss and develop initial training material, organized into ‘chapters’ of content

August 2012

• Members of the SSA presented initial content to attendees at the International Sprout Grower’s Association (ISGA) Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, on August 24, in order to discuss with sprout growers the purpose and objectives of the Alliance and to obtain initial feedback on the chapter contents

October 2012

• The Education and Outreach Working Group began conducting conference calls to discuss the dissemination of information developed by the Technical Working Group

January 2012

• The Proposed Rule under FSMA for Produce: Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption was released on January 4 for public comment. Specific requirements for sprout production will be covered under this proposed rule

• Stephen Grove presented the objectives and progress of the SSA during an invited presentation at the International Processing and Production Expo 2013 in Atlanta, GA, on January 30

Feburary 2013

• A pilot training session was held on February 14 at the Institute for Food Safety and Health in Bedford Park, IL.  Content developed by the Technical Working Group was presented and discussed with 15 attendees, including representatives from small and very small sprout growers from the Chicagoland area, as well as officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health

What to expect later in 2013:

Content development will continue throughout 2013, and further feedback and focus group sessions are being planned.  The SSA also plans to participate in a webinar/ information session on the proposed FSMA regulation in March to help keep our stakeholders informed

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