The ‘Safe Melons’ program focused on cultivating a robust food safety culture throughout the melon supply chain. This project supported the melon industry to maintain and adopt improved food safety practices through proactive and reactive strategies, grounded in food safety monitoring and scientific evidence-based support.  

Challenge  

Maintaining the adoption of improved food safety practices is crucial to reducing the risk of food safety incidents, enhancing regulatory compliance, and sustaining consumer confidence. Additionally with new regulatory standards set to take effect in 2025, the industry must prepare to meet stricter food safety protocols.  

Response  

The project centred around two key components: monitoring and support, both aimed at enhancing food safety in the melon industry. 

Monitoring component: 

• The primary focus was on ensuring that growers and packers adhered to best practices in food safety, emphasising the control of critical processes during production and post-harvest handling rather than relying solely on end-point microbiological testing.
  
• A confidential microbial food safety surveillance program was implemented as an early warning system to predict and manage potential food safety failures before they escalated into crises.
• Over the course of three years, a total of 4,799 microbiological samples were collected from melon production fields, packhouses, wholesale, and retail locations, surpassing the initial target of 3,900 samples. These samples were collected during 153 sampling events, averaging one per week.
• The proactive and reactive surveillance provided detailed risk profiles at individual grower, regional, and national levels.
• The food safety data generated was shared with the industry and state food/health regulators to demonstrate the industry’s commitment to food safety.
• The surveillance program was complemented by traceback investigations and root-cause analyses, which helped growers and packers identify sources and routes of contamination in their facilities. 

Support component: 

• This component focused on increasing food safety knowledge among growers and converting that knowledge into practical and behavioural changes to foster a strong food safety culture.
  
• The project conducted site visits and provided one-on-one consultations with 42 melon growers across Australia.
• Fourteen technical presentations were delivered in regional workshops and roadshows, engaging over 200 participants from the melon supply chain.
• Additionally, five invited presentations were made at scientific conferences and symposia, reaching an audience of approximately 400.
• Around 250 stakeholders from regulatory, policy, and standards settings were given four presentations on the industry’s food safety status and preparedness.
• The project also produced 12 technical articles in response to ongoing and emerging challenges in food safety.
• A food safety helpdesk was established, addressing around 204 inquiries from supply chain participants, including regulators. 

Benefit  

The program successfully engaged more than 99 per cent of commercial melon growers across Australia, providing critical risk mitigation services that are essential for the sustainability and profitability of the industry. As a result of these efforts, the melon industry achieved zero food safety incidents and product recalls for six consecutive years, a significant milestone.  

Access food safety resources on the Melons Australia website here.