Food safety priority ranking for Processors
Learn how to determine the priority ranking of food safety projects.
High Priority
- Ready-to-eat (RTE) minimally-processed fruit and vegetables (e.g. peeled, cut, washed, dried, in order to be packaged)
- RTE bagged salads, greens or herbs (e.g. salad mix, spinach)
- RTE meat products (e.g. pate, meat spreads, frankfurters, deli meats, beef or poultry jerky, dry/semi-dry fermented sausages)
- Unripened or fresh soft cheese (e.g. cottage cheese, cream cheese, feta, ricotta), semi-soft cheese and unpasteurized/raw milk cheese
- Low-acid shelf-stable canned products (e.g. canned vegetables, pH greater than 4.6)
- Unpasteurized fruit/vegetable juice (e.g. apple cider)
- Poultry or beef slaughter or processing
- Sprouted seeds
Medium Priority
- Frozen fruit and vegetables
- Swine slaughter or processing
- Sheep and other milk (e.g. water buffalo, mare)
- RTE spreads and dips (e.g. hummus, tahini)
- High-acid shelf-stable canned products (e.g. pickled products or products with a pH less than 4.6)
- Peanuts and tree nuts (e.g. hazelnuts, walnuts)
- Insect processing
- Ice cream
Low Priority
- Oilseeds (e.g. soybean, corn, canola) and grains (e.g. wheat, pea and bean, rice) for processing
- Cooked fruit and vegetables
- Maple syrup and honey
- Beverages (e.g. pasteurized fruit juices, carbonated soft drinks, bottled water, alcohol)
- Pickled meat
- Baked goods
- Semi-hard cheese (e.g. cheddar, brick)
- Hard cheese (e.g. asiago, parmesan)
- Processed cheese
- Ice cream, fluid milk (cow & goat) and high fat and other dairy products (e.g. butter and ghee)
- Other cultured milk products (e.g. yogurt, kefir)
- Ready-to-serve meat products (e.g. meat pies, pizza)
- Health and/or nutrition supplements
Updated: July 22, 2022
Published: July 22, 2022