Food safety

For each and every one of us, it’s our job

At Brooks Tropicals, food safety is top priority

In-depth process

Achieving food safety starts at planting and doesn’t really end until someone has eaten the fruit. It’s an integrated process that governs everything we do in managing our fields, along with our harvesting, packing, warehousing, and even the shipping of our produce.

It’s all about keeping it clean. Fruit is not picked off the ground. Washings before being packed is a big help. Notice the plural in washings. The FDA says you should wash an avocado before cutting it open. That would be wash #3 for our SlimCados.

It’s also about keeping your fruit at optimal temperatures and humidity levels to arrive in your grocery store fresh and delicious. Once picked it’s a “continuous chill chain” from our fields to your grocery stores and wholesalers. That’s not too cold and not too hot.

Responsibility

Food safety is the responsibility of every Brooks Tropicals employee. We are trained to anticipate and control any potential product hazard. Each employee serves as an inspector when working with the tropical fruits and vegetables destined for your family’s table.

Brooks Tropicals works closely with our associated and independent growers to ensure that they follow and adhere to our food safety standards as set forth in our guidelines for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

Promoting a culture of security throughout Brooks Tropicals’ entire supply chain is our full support of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program and all the requirements of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the import of commodities.

Food safety is an integral part of Brooks Tropicals’ entire operation; we have incorporated food safety as a part of our culture.

Making sure we’re doing it right

Our fields, harvesting crews, packinghouse, storage, and distribution facilities are food safety audited by an independent third-party, Primus Labs. We continually achieve exceptional scores on these audits that are done on a regular basis.