NC Produce Safety Professionals Conference

The North Carolina Fresh Produce Safety Task Force invites produce growers, food safety coordinators, extension agents, food safety consultants, and professionals involved with produce farms to join us at the 2025 NC Produce Safety Professionals Conference.

This event offers an excellent opportunity to remain informed about industry trends, food safety practices, and receive updates from regulatory partners, auditing companies, and Extension programs in North Carolina.

9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introductions

9:10 a.m. Fresh Produce Safety Insights.

9:30 a.m. Updates from food safety auditing companies for 2026.

9:50 a.m. Challenges with the implementation of food safety programs faced by NC growers (Grower Panel).

10:10 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. Occurrence of PFAS in fresh produce production.

10:45 a.m. What growers and packers need to know about product recalls caused by a lesser known parasite: Cyclospora cayetanensis.

11:00 a.m. Tools used to identify food borne pathogens during outbreak investigations: The basics of Whole genome sequencing.

11:15 a.m. Learning from past outbreaks. Findings from previous longitudinal studies carried out by the FDA have played a significant role in identifying on-farm sources of contamination and in developing food safety practices in the United States.

12:00 p.m. Catered Lunch (included with registration)

12:45 p.m. Tool to identify annual regulatory and GAP third-party audit requirements for agricultural water used on produce farms throughout the growing season, at harvest and during post-harvest operations.

1:00 p.m. Assessing water quality in produce farms. Participants will break down into groups to work on different scenarios that have impacted produce farms and share their findings.

1:40 p.m. Break

1:50 p.m. Resources for microgreen, mushrooms and edible flower growers.

2:00 p.m. Case study: Produce farms achieving notable efficiencies and savings through food safety practices.

2:30 p.m. Final thoughts and comments.

2:40 p.m. Adjourn

Cost per participant is $25.00. This includes lunch and coffee breaks. Please pre-register by December 5, 2025.

* Gold ($250) and Silver ($100) Sponsorships are available for this event. Both sponsorships will include registration. Company logos for sponsors will be prominently displayed at the conference, with Gold Sponsors offsetting the costs for lunch and Silver Sponsors offsetting the costs for breaks.

Elena Rogers at [email protected] or (828)352-2519

Dr. Chip Simmons at [email protected] or (919)414-5632

This event is organized by the North Carolina Produce Safety Task Force.

Our partners include:

NC State University

NC A&T University

NC Cooperative Extension

NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

NC Farm Bureau

Carolina Farm Stewardship

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Horticultural Science