A California-based produce trade association will spent $1 million to advance food safety.

Western Growers (WG) donated $1 million to the Campaign for Produce Safety (CPS) to advance food safety research and develop ready-to-use solutions to improve the safety of fresh produce globally. The contribution puts CPS over the $10 million mark for its Campaign for Produce Safety, which aims to raise $20 million by 2020 to fund critically needed, actionable food safety research.

CPS is a collaborate partnership that leverages the combined expertise of industry, government and the scientific and academic communities to focus on providing research needed to continually enhance food safety. The center has supported more than 100 research projects and awarded more than $18 million to develop science-based solutions since its inception in 2007.

Working with some of the world’s leading produce safety scientists, CPS has conducted extensive research and discovered solutions related to a variety of food safety issues.

“With nearly a decade of cooperation and collaboration between our two organizations, we are honored to help CPS reach the $10 million milestone in their fundraising campaign,” said Tom Nassif, Western Growers president and CEO. “The safety of consumers is a top priority for our industry which is why I encourage every farm-to-fork stakeholder to consider how they can further contribute to the development of the strongest food safety system in the world.”

CPS’ Campaign for Produce Safety publicly launched last September.

“CPS is the only organization where the produce supply and demand chain works collaboratively with the regulatory, research and academic community to identify research needs, conduct research and translate findings into science-based implementable solutions and guidance from field to fork,” said Stephen Patricio, CPS chairman and Westside Produce president and CEO. “Western Growers has been an integral component of CPS throughout its history.

For more information about the Campaign for Produce Safety, visit the CPS website.