Ceasar Salad

Food safety

Food Safety is the starting point and foundation of everything we do. Our ranches and facilities adhere to the highest food safety standards, and all of our products are subjected to the 7-point program below.

  • Two men looking at a tablet.

    Farm Approval

    • Pre-season risk assessment

    • Documentation review-grower GAPs, land history, adjacent land use, water source & test results, soil inputs, letter of guarantee, etc.

    • Compliance against FSMA, LGMA metrics & customer requirements

    • Implemented corrective actions/buffers if needed

  • Church Brothers Farms harvesting.

    Planting & Growing Compliance

    • Continual ranch monitoring & verification of implemented GAPs- animal activity/intrusion, changes in adjacent land use, review of monthly irrigation water test results, etc.

    • Completion of an annual 3rd Party GFSI Ranch Audit

    • Pre Harvest Risk Assessment (approx 4-7 days prior to harvest)

    • Pre Harvest Pathogen Testing for Leafy Greens (Salmonella & E.Coli 0157:H7)

  • Church Brothers Farms harvesting.

    Harvesting Surveillance

    • Daily Harvest Risk Assessment to include a thorough review of the area to be harvested for any animal hazards/intrusion

    • Verification of implemented GAPs/GHPs (ex. employee hygiene, equipment/harvest tool sanitation, properly stocked restrooms, etc.)

    • Continual foreman/employee training on food safety topics such as animal hazards, employee hygiene, proper hand washing, equipment sanitation, reporting of any suspicious activity or individuals, etc.

    • Annual 3rd Party Harvest Crew Audits

    • Traceability– All loads are identified with a unique block ID which establishes the grower, ranch & lot. Traceability stickers also include the harvest date and crew

  • Church Brothers Farms tractor pulling boxes of produce.

    Harvest Transportation & Cooling Monitoring

    • Monitoring of cut to cool times

    • Traceability of product leaving the field & verified upon receipt at the cooler

    • Cleanliness of trucks

    • Employee hygiene programs

    • Monitoring of cooling process

    • Sanitation of cooling tubes

  • Church Brothers Farms Shipping Dock

    Shipping & Distribution oversight

    • Traceability - Data is electronically recorded with regards to products being shipped on each order

    • Monitoring of temperatures

    • Cleanliness of trucks

    • 3rd Party Facility Audits

    • Employee hygiene programs

  • Employee packing lettuce.

    Value-Added Process Preventative Control

    Our team complies with the Preventive Controls Rule for Human and Animal Food as part of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), with PCQI-trained individuals (Preventive Controls Qualified Individuals) overseeing our programs.

    We also participate in several third-party audits to maintain excellence and transparency, including:

    • PrimusGFS Certification

    • Organic Certification

    • Commercial Food Sanitation (CFS) Audits

    These audits help us ensure the hygienic design and sanitation of our processing equipment and uphold our strict Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and overall food safety policies.

  • Closeup of Church Brothers Farms produce box.

    TRACEABILITY

    • Internally generated block ID for each planting 

    • (identified Grower, Ranch, Lot, Variety & acres) 

    • This block ID is applied in the field and follows the product all the way through receiving, cooling, processing & shipping

    • PTI, Mock Recalls, iCiX

Rooted in Food Safety