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    Home»Blog»Industry News»2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement
    Industry News

    2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement

    By urbanagnewsDecember 11, 2019No Comments8 Mins Read
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    Originally published at https://aquaponicsassociation.org/2019-aquaponics-food-safety-statement/

    The Aquaponics Association presents the 2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement, signed by over 130 organizations, including 98 from the U.S. This statement explains the food safety credentials of produce grown in aquaponic systems.

    PDF version: 2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement

    December 9, 2019
    Aquaponics Food Safety Statement

    Established Science Confirms Aquaponic Fish and Produce are Food Safe

    Aquaponics is a food production method integrating fish and plants in a closed, soil-less system. This symbiotic relationship mimics the biological cycles found in nature. Aquaponics has been used as a farming technique for thousands of years and is now seeing large-scale viability to feed a growing global population.

    Benefits of aquaponics include dramatically less water use; no toxic chemical fertilizers or pesticides; no agriculture discharge to air, water or soil; and less food miles when systems are located near consumers where there is no arable soil.

    Aquaponics has consistently proven to be a safe method to grow fresh, healthy fish, fruits, and vegetables in any environment. Governments and food safety certifiers must utilize the most current, accurate information to make food safety decisions about aquaponics at this time when our food systems adapt to a growing population and environmental concerns.

    Food Safety Certification for Aquaponics

    For years, commercial aquaponic farms have obtained food safety certification from certifying bodies such as Global GAP, USDA Harmonized GAP, Primus GFS, and the SQF Food Safety Program. Many aquaponic farms are also certified USDA Organic. These certifying bodies have found aquaponics to be a food safe method for fish, fruits, and vegetables. As far back as 2003, researchers found aquaponic fish and produce to be consistently food safe (Rakocy, 2003; Chalmers, 2004).  Aquaponic fish and produce continue to be sold commercially across North America following all appropriate food safety guidelines.

    Recent Certification Changes Based on Unfounded Concerns

    Recently, Canada GAP, a food safety certifier, announced that it will phase out certification of aquaponic operations in 2020, citing concerns about the potential for leafy greens to uptake contaminants found in aquaponic water.

    Correspondence with Canada GAP leadership revealed that the decision to revoke aquaponics certification eligibility was based on research and literature surveys related to the uptake of pharmaceutical and pathogenic contaminants in hydroponic systems. However, these concerns are unfounded based on the established evidence.

    First, the Canada GAP decision assumes that aquaponic growers use pharmaceuticals to treat fish, and that these pharmaceuticals would be taken up by plants causing a food safety risk.

    In fact, pharmaceuticals are not compatible with aquaponics. Aquaponics represents an ecosystem heavily dependent on a healthy microorganism community (Rinehart, 2019; Aquaponics Association, 2018). The pharmaceuticals and antibiotics referenced by Canada GAP would damage the beneficial microorganisms required for aquaponics to function properly.

    Second, the CanadaGAP decision misrepresents the risk of pathogenic contamination. Aquaponic produce – like all produce – is not immune to pathogenic contamination. However, aquaponics is in fact one of the safest agriculture methods against pathogenic risk. Most pathogenic contamination in our modern agriculture system stems from bird droppings, animal infestation, and agriculture ditch or contaminated water sources. In contrast, commercial aquaponic systems are “closed-loop” and usually operated in controlled environments like greenhouses. Almost all operations use filtered municipal or well water and monitor everything that enters and leaves the system.

    Aquaponics and Food Safety

    If practiced appropriately, aquaponics can be one of the safest methods of food production. The healthy microbes required for aquaponics serve as biological control agents against pathogenic bacteria. (Fox, 2012) The healthy biological activity of an aquaponic system competitively inhibits human pathogens, making their chances for survival minimal. This is, in effect, nature’s immune system working to keep our food safe, rather than synthetic chemicals.

    The Government of Alberta, Canada ran extensive food safety tests in aquaponics from 2002 to 2010 at the Crop Diversification Centre South (CDC South) and observed no human pathogenic contamination during this entire eight-year period (Savidov, 2019, Results available upon request). As a result of this study, the pilot-scale aquaponic operation at CDC South was certified as a food safe operation in compliance with Canada GAP standards in May 2011 (GFTC OFFS Certification, May 26, 2011). Similar studies conducted by University of Hawaii in 2012 in a commercial aquaponic farm revealed the same results. (Tamaru, 2012)

    Current aquaponic farms must be able to continuously prove their food safety. The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act requires farms to be able to demonstrate appropriate mitigation of potential sources of pathogenic contamination as well as water testing that validates waters shared with plants are free from contamination by zoonotic organisms. So, if there is a food safety concern in aquaponics, food safety certifiers will find and document it.

    Conclusion

    The recent certification decision from Canada GAP has already set back commercial aquaponic operations in Canada and has the potential to influence other food safety certifiers or create unfounded consumer concerns. At a time when we need more sustainable methods to grow our food, it is essential to work on greater commercial-government collaboration and scientific validation to ensure fact-based food safety standards.

    In order to expand the benefits of aquaponics, we need a vibrant commercial sector. And for commercial aquaponics to succeed, we need reliable food safety certification standards based on established science.

    Consumers can feel secure knowing that when they purchase aquaponic fish and produce, they are getting fresh food grown in one of the safest, most sustainable methods possible.

    Sincerely,

    The Aquaponics Association, along with the undersigned entities

    UNITED STATES

    Alabama
    Gardens on Air – A Local Farm, Inc.
    Southern Organics

    California
    AONE Aquaponics
    Fresh Farm Aquaponics
    Go Fish Farm
    SchoolGrown Aquaponics
    Seouchae Natural Farming
    Shwava, Inc.
    University of California, Davis

    Colorado
    The Aquaponic Source
    Bountyhaus School Farms
    Colorado Aquaponics
    Dahlia Campus for Health and Wellness Aquaponic Farm
    Ecoponex Systems International LLC
    Emerge Aquaponics
    Flourish Farms @ The GrowHaus
    Grand Valley Greens, LLC
    GroFresh Farms 365
    Northsider Farms LLC

    Connecticut
    Marine Bait Wholesale

    Delaware
    Aquaponics AI

    Florida
    The Aquaponics Doctors, Inc.
    Aquaponic Lynx LLC
    The Family Farm
    GreenView Aquaponics, LLC
    Sahib Aquaponics
    Traders Hill Farm

    Georgia
    FM Aquaponic Farm
    Georgia Aquaponic Produce LLC
    TRC Aquaponics
    Teachaman.fish
    Ula Farms

    Hawaii
    Friendly Aquaponics, LLC

    Idaho
    FoodOlogy

    Illinois
    Central Illinois Aquaponics

    Kentucky
    Janelle Hager, Kentucky State University
    K&L Organics
    Purple Thumb Farms
    West KY Aquaponics

    Louisiana
    Small Scale Aquaponics

    Massachusetts
    Aquaponics Academy
    Lesley University
    O’Maley Innovation Middle School

    Maryland
    Anne Arundel Community College
    Greenway Farms, LLC

    Missouri
    Www.PlentyCare.Org

    Minnesota
    Menagerie Greens Inc.

    North Carolina
    Grace Goodness Aquaponics Farm, LLC
    100 Gardens

    New Hampshire
    University of New Hampshire

    New York
    iGrow News
    Oko Farms

    New Mexico
    Desert Verde Farm
    Growing the Greens
    High Desert Aquaponics
    Howling Coyote Farms
    Lettuce, Etc. LLC
    Openponics
    Project Urban Greenhouse
    Sanctuary at ABQ
    Santa Fe Community College

    Ohio
    Berean Aquaponic Farms and Organics LLC
    CHCA Eagle Farms
    Wildest Farms
    Williams Dairy Farms

    Oklahoma
    Freedom FFA
    Greener Grounds LLC

    Oregon
    Alternative Youth Activity
    Ingenuity Innovation Center
    Live Local Organic
    Triskelee Farm

    Pennsylvania
    Aquaponics at State High
    Yehudah Enterprises LLC

    Puerto Rico
    Fusion Farms
    Granja Ecologica Pescavida

    Rhode Island
    The Cascadia Bay Company

    Tennessee
    Great Head LLC

    Texas
    BioDiverse Technologies LLC
    BnE Enterprises
    East Texas Aquaponics, LLC
    Gentlesoll Farm
    HannaLeigh Farm
    K&E Texan Landscaping
    King’s Farm
    Tarleton State University, Aquaponics Hydrotron
    West Texas Organic Gardening

    Utah
    Aquaponics Olio
    Wasatch High School

    Virginia
    Grace Aquaponics
    INMED Partnerships for Children
    Return to Roots Farm

    Vermont
    The Mill ART Garden, LLP

    Washington
    The Farm Plan
    Impact Horizon, Co.
    Life Tastes Good LLC
    Northwest Aquaponics LLC
    Wind River Produce

    Washington, DC
    Anacostia Aquaponics DC LLC
    P.R. Harris Food Hub

    AUSTRALIA

    New South Wales
    Wirralee Pastoral
    Solum Farm

    BHUTAN

    Thimphu
    Chhuyang – Aquaponics in Bhutan

    BRAZIL

    Rio Grande do Norte
    Habitat Marte

    Santa Catarina
    Pedra Viva Aquicultura

    BULGARIA

    Burgas
    Via Pontica Foundation

    CANADA

    Alberta
    Agro Resiliency Kit (ARK) Ltd.
    Fresh Flavor Ltd
    Lethbridge College
    W.G. Guzman Technical Services

    British Colombia
    Garden City Aquaponics Inc.
    Green Oasis Foods Ltd.
    Pontus Water Lentils Ltd.

    Ontario
    Aquatic Growers
    University of Guelph
    Power From Within Clean Energy Society
    GREEN RELIEF

    Quebec
    ML Aquaponics Inc

    Yukon Territory
    North Star Agriculture

    EGYPT

    Cairo
    Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research

    FRANCE

    Paca
    Vegetal Grow Development

    INDIA

    Delhi
    Prof Brahma Singh Horticulture Foundation, New Delhi

    Karnataka
    Blue’s and Green’s
    Spacos Innovations Private Limited

    ITALY

    Turin
    Grow Up

    MALAYSIA

    Negeri Sembilan
    BNS Aquafresh Farming

    NIGERIA
    Abuja
    University of Abuja

    PHILIPPINES
    Nueva Ecija
    Central Luzon State University

    Metro Manila, NCR
    IanTim Aquaponics Farm

    PORTUGAL
    Madeira
    True Spirit Lda

    ROMANIA
    Sectors 2 & 4
    Bucharest Association of Romanian Aquaponics Society

    SAUDI ARABIA
    Riyadh
    Aquaponica

    SENEGAL
    Senegal
    Ucad Dakar

    SINGAPORE
    Singapore
    Aquaponics Singapore

    Contributors:
    Brian Filipowich, Aquaponics Association
    Juli Ogden, The Farm Plan
    Dr. Nick Savidov, Lethbridge College
    Tawnya Sawyer, The Aquaponic Source
    Dr. R. Charlie Shultz, Santa Fe Community College
    Meg Stout, Independent

    References

    Chalmers, 2004. Aquaponics and Food Safety. Retrieved from http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/Travis/Aquaponics-andFood-Safety.pdf

    Filipowich, Schramm, Pyle, Savage, Delanoy, Hager, Beuerlein. 2018. Aquaponic Systems Utilize the Soil Food Web to Grow Healthy Crops. Aquaponics Association. https://aaasociation.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/soil-food-web-aug-2018.pdf

    Fox, Tamaru, Hollyer, Castro, Fonseca, Jay-Russell, Low. A Preliminary Study of Microbial Water Quality Related to Food Safety in Recirculating Aquaponic Fish and Vegetable Production Systems. Publication of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii, February 1, 2012.

    Rakocy, J.E., Shultz, R.C., Bailey, D.S. and Thoman, E.S.  (2003). Aquaponic production of tilapia and basil:  comparing a batch and staggered cropping system.  South Pacific Soilless Culture Conference. Palmerston North, New Zealand.

    Rinehart, Lee. Aquaponics – Multitrophic Systems, 2019. ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture. National Center for Appropriate Technology.

    Tamaru, Fox, Hollyer, Castro, Low, 2012. Testing for Water Borne Pathogens at an Aquaponic Farm. Publication of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii, February 1, 2012.

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