Food Safety

Hydrosun Hydroponics takes food safety seriously! Our production, harvesting, and packing areas follow strict food safety protocols which include wearing laboratory coats, gloves, hairnets, and no jewelry. All packaging is made of food grade materials. Production areas are sanitized regularly and follow equipment maintenance schedules. The product cold chain is kept unbroken from harvest until delivery to our customers’ door.

Why Do We Take Food Safety So Seriously?
Food borne illness outbreaks associated with the consumption of fresh produce have:
• Risen steadily since 1987
• Nearly doubled the number of people affected by the outbreaks
• Indicated an increase of food-borne illness outbreaks associated with conventional field-grown lettuce and organically grown lettuce
• mandated the need for lettuce grown under clean, controlled, contaminant free conditions.

The Research

Scientists at Rutgers University have discovered if lettuce is grown in manure-contaminated soil or watered with manure-contaminated water, the pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 can be taken up by the roots of lettuce plants and can migrate into the internal tissues of lettuce plants.

When the pathogen is inside of the plant, no washing or sanitizing of the lettuce will remove or kill the pathogen.

A vegetable production CEA facility following strict food safety protocols offers the highest level of assurance of producing, packing, and shipping fresh produce that is free from contamination by harmful pathogens.

Field-grown produce is open to contamination by birds, deer, dogs, and people harvesting the crop without adequate bathroom and washing facilities.