At Tanimura & Antle, food safety is priority one. All of our food safety programs are quality assured through many in-house and third-party auditors that follow strict policies and procedures to ensure you the safest product possible.

Our food safety programs continue to garner industry attention as cutting edge, and we're proud to share that knowledge with others by actively participating in programs aimed at industry research and food safety education.

Tanimura & Antle executives sit on the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) Steering Committee. To date, Tanimura & Antle has implemented per case traceability and applied company specific GTIN numbers to each case and work flow. Individual product unit traceability is utilized through our KWIKTrak’r packaging closure available on iceberg and Artisan Lettuce packages.

Tanimura & Antle is a member of both the California and Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements.

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) are guidelines designed by FDA and USDA* to produce safe products and eliminate potential for product contamination.

The Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Production and Harvest of Lettuce and Leafy Greens, as adopted by the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, build upon the FDA / USDA GAP Guidelines with defined requirements all signatories must comply with during the production and harvest of produce.

The key contents of GAP guidelines are sanitation, employee hygiene, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), irrigation water quality, safe compost and pesticide use, and post harvest handling of produce. Prior to each growing season, ranch locations are assessed to ensure they are not in close proximity of feedlots, sewer treatment plants, and/or garbage disposal sites.

Irrigation water is tested regularly to ensure compliance to established irrigation water standards.

Only compost prepared according to State and Federal guidelines is used in Tanimura & Antle farms. The compost is tested per specifications outlined in the Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Production and Harvest of Lettuce and Leafy Greens.

Harvest equipment is sanitized daily. Sanitation is performed either at the harvest shop or in the field using a mobile sanitation unit. We have a very accurate traceability program.The produce can be traced back to the harvested field, harvest crew, cooling equipment, shipping truck, etc.

All produce handlers are trained twice a year on proper hygiene and GMP’s (Good Manufacturing Practices). Good Manufacturing Practices includes the use of clean gloves; washing and sanitation of hands after each break and use of toilets.

The farming, harvesting, and cooling operations are routinely audited for GAP compliance by California State Inspectors, third party auditors, and our Food safety Department.

To know more about FDA / USDA food safety programs, click here for the FDA web site.

*Joint FDA / USDA Guidance document for Produce Industry.