This leaflet provides a practical overview for producers and others involved in grape production and wine processing, of what can be done at these steps to improve the quality and safety of organically produced wine, in addition to certification and general food safety requirements. Other leaflets cover production of other commodities and separate leaflets aim at consumers and retailers

Elzakker, Bo van

Wyss, Gabriela

English

Organic Eprints

Info Organic HACCP   Grape production and Wine Processing Control of Quality and Safety in Organic Production ChainsGabriela S. Wyss and Bo van Elzakker                   © FiBL, Frick / Jacques Fuchs   This leaflet provides a practical overview for producers and others involved in grape production and wine processing, of what can be done at these steps to improve the quality and safety of organically produced wine, in addition to certification and general food safety requirements. Other leaflets cover production of other commodities and separate leaflets aim at consumers and retailers. Published by    In co-operation with       Funded by the Commission of the European Communities under Key Action 5 of the Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development  The Organic HACCP Project leaflets This is no.14 of a series of 14 leaflets comprising informa-tion on how control of quality and safety can be further im-proved in organic supply chains across Europe. The Or-ganic HACCP project has reviewed studies of consumer concerns and preferences in relation to organic production systems and collected information about typical production chains for 7 commodities in regions across Europe. For each of the criteria listed below, the information was ana-lysed to identify Critical Control Points (CCPs), defined as the steps in supply chains where the qualities of the final product can be controlled most efficiently. CCPs were identi-fied using methods developed for Hazard Analysis by Criti-cal Control Points (HACCP), a standard procedure to pre-vent food safety risks. The new aspect is thus to improve how consumer concerns are addressed, through the use of the CCP concept for a wide range of criteria, not only safety.              2 1.  Microbial toxins and abiotic contaminants 2. Potential  pathogens 3.  Natural plant toxicants  4.  Freshness and taste 5.  Nutrient content and food additives 6. Fraud   7.  Social and ethical aspects  Overview of the chains examined for wine making  Chain R2     (Italy)Chain R3 (Portugal)Chain R4 (Switzerland)Chain R5 (Switzerland)Chain R6 (Switzerland) Production of grapes by single producer Production of grapes by single producer Production of grapes by single producer Production of grapes by single producer Production of grapes by single producerWine making by producerWine making by producer Transport of grapes by producer Transport of grapes by producerWine making by producer Transport of wine by transport Bottling by wine producerWine making by wine processorWine making by wine processorBotteling by producerBottling by wine processor Transport of bottled wine by health food storeBottling by wine processorBotteling by wine processor Retail by producer Transport of bottled wine by mail order  Retail by health food store Transport of bottled wine by producer  Transport of bottled wine by producer  Retail by mail order company Retail by producer Retail by producer  The diagram shows the analysed organic supply chains for wine throughout Europe. On the project’s homepage (www.organichaccp.org) they are shown in more detail and each of the CCPs are shown and described. Grape production Important issues to control at this step The typical wine taste is mainly determined by the cultivar. Secondary metabolites are the source of wine flavour, col-our and taste. Their content is dependent on the cultivar, the microclimate and the nutrient supply of the grape vine. Grapevines have a low nitrogen requirement. Over-use of N-containing organic fertiliser can have negative influence on taste-relevant components in the wine. Specific problems for organic production Spray drift in regions with small-scale grape production by less careful conventional farmers or by helicopter applica-tions (data from FiBL studies; see chart below) may result in contaminated grapes. It is the organic farmer who needs to take action to prevent any contamination of its products. [%]by helicopter502510051Spray Drift [%]by regular spraying502510051Conventional Organic RowsThe fungal disease downy mildew, Plasmopora viticola, has traditionally been controlled by the use of copper salts, also in organic farming. The use of copper-based pesticides is a problem for the image of organic farming among consum-ers, and many retailers demand copper-free production. It has been banned from both conventional and organic farm-ing in some Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands. Recommendations   Select cultivars with good taste and low susceptibility to downy mildew and other diseases and pests. Make sure they have been tested and performed well in your region.   Limit the use of N containing fertiliser and harvest late after sunny, warm days to optimise wine taste.   If pesticides can have drifted onto your vineyard, get a leaf sample analyzed. If residues are found, either i) ask your conventional neighbour to buy the affected grapes from you for the same price as organic and cost of the analysis, or ii) harvest the first two rows separately, with subsequent separate processing and marketing.   Agree with neighbours and helicopter operations on safety measures such as spraying only under certain wind conditions with well-maintained equipment, using sub-stances allowed in organic farming on part of the conven-tional vineyard, restricting where the nozzles are open.    Establish hedges or other barriers to protect the crop from spray drift from neighbours, and promote merging of small areas with organic vineyards including exchange of land.   Use less than the permitted amount of copper (or none) and prepare for copper-free production in the future. De-velop replacement strategies including the use of clay minerals, plant tonic and resistant cultivars.    Wine processing Specific problems for organic production  In cellars with parallel processing of organic and non-on with h the ic ll  -   organic grapes, there is a high risk for contaminatipesticides up to levels which are not in compliance witconsumers’ idea of organic wine: Either mixing up of organand non-organic grapes or juice, or carry-over of residues from insufficient cleaned hoses, filter layers, containers as well as the press, the bottling machine and handling of smavolume containers.  Recommendations (parallel wine processing operations)   Evaluate each step along the processing line to locate those steps where pesticide residues can be introduced.   As far as possible use dedicated organic equipment, hoses, containers, filters etc. (paint in different colours).   Even if not required by the certifier, always process organic material before non-organic, and thoroughly clean the entire system before starting up again with organic.Especially the filter layers may accumulate pesticides. Maintain permanent identification of each batch.  Monitor and document both organic and non-organic activities (input-output reconciliation). Wine storage Important issues to control at this step with non-organic  risk for uninten-dicated organic tanks/cellars. t identification of each batch on the tput reconciliation).  atch number. Parallel storage of un-bottled organic wine and/or in conversion material increases thetional or intentional blending to improve quality or increase financial gain. Consumers are concerned about the risk of fraud, especially when organic wine is much more expen-sive than wine produced conventionally. Recommendations   Store the wine in de  Maintain permanentanks and casks.   Monitor and document both organic and non-organic activities (input-ou  When bottling, make sure the label contains the nameand address of the producer and the bGeneral Recommendations    As a grape producer stay in closmaker, and discuss the problems e contact with your wine which may rise with e  g-b-  tches. Take retain parallel processing in the wine cellar. Also exchange in-formation about your quality control and their quality measurements with the companies and persons in chargof the other parts of the chain. Formal collaboration agreements can ensure that quality and safety is con-trolled at every step of the supply chain, and that the costs of this are shared fairly among the participants. Establish and maintain your own quality assurance sys-tem to prevent contamination or mislabelling: For each step, describe how it should be done on a checklist. Imaine what can go wrong and decide in advance what to do in each case of theoretical problems and accidents that may occur. Fill in these checklists for each batch, with date and time for each procedure and with notes descriing anything unusual that happened. Provide permanent identification of basamples of wine from all batches and let them analyse if you are in doubt. Continuation in other EU or national projects The work of Organic HACCP identified several areas where quality and safety of grape r Fungicides in Organic Production    flanze, more research is needed to improve the control of quality and safety of organic products. The following topics relevant for production and wine making will be investigated in further EU or national projects:   Replacement of Coppeof Grapevine and Apple in Europe (REPCO), 6th Frame-work Programme, Contract no. 501452, Running from 11/2003, 36 Months. Webpage: http://www.rep-co.nl/. Within the “Bundesprogramm Ökologischer Landbau” several projects deal either with replacement strategiesfor copper or general copper reduction, with the (biologi-cal) control of important fungal diseases of vine (Perono-spora spp. and Oidium spp.) or preventive plant protectionstrategies; see http://www.bundesprogramm-oekolandbau.de/projektliste.html, keywords: PWein (in German).               3                 4  Editorial Notes The editors and authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Commission of the European Communities under Key Action 5 of the Fifth Framework Research and Technological Development Programme and co-funding by the Swiss Science Agency (SBF) for the project "Recom-mendations for improved procedures for securing consumer oriented food safety and quality of certified organic products from plough to plate" (Organic HACCP; QLK1-CT-2002-02245). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Com-mission, nor do they in any way anticipate the Commission's future policy in this area. The content of the leaflet is the sole responsibility of the authors. The information contained herein, including any expression of opinion and any projection or forecast, has been obtained from sources believed by the authors to be reliable but is not guaranteed as to accuracy or complete-ness. The information is supplied without obligation and on the understanding that any person who acts upon it or oth-erwise changes his/her position in reliance thereon does so entirely at his/her own risk. Bibliographical Information Gabriela S. Wyss, Bo van Elzakker (2005): Grape Produc-tion and Wine Processing, Control of Quality and Safety in Organic Production Chains. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland  © 2005, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and University of Newcastle Upon Tyne    FiBL, Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, Tel. +41 62 865 72 72, Fax +41 62 8657 273, e-mail info.suisse@fibl.org, Internet http://www.fibl.org    University of Newcastle, Agriculture Building, UK – NE1 7RU, Newcastle upon Tyne, e-mail organic.haccp@ncl.ac.uk, Internet http://www.ncl.ac.uk/afrd/tcoa/ Language editing: Kirsten Brandt Cover & layout: FiBL  Logo Organic HACCP: Tina Hansen, DIAS, Denmark A PDF version can be downloaded free of charge from the project internet site at www.organichaccp.org or from www.orgprints.org/view/projects/eu-organic-haccp.html. Printed versions can be ordered from the FiBL Shop at www.shop.fibl.org. Authors  Gabriela S. Wyss (FiBL) and Bo van Elzakker (Agro Eco). Contact: Dr. Gabriela S. Wyss FiBL: Ackerstrasse, Postfach, 5070 Frick, Switzerland. Tel. +41 62 865 72 72 Fax +41 62 685 72 73 e-mail: gabriela.wyss@fibl.org http://www.fibl.net/fibl/team/wyss-gabriela.php About Organic HACCP   The main objectives of this Concerted Action are to assess current procedures for production management and control in organic production chains, with particular reference to the characteristics valued by consumers, and from this to formu-late and disseminate recommendations for improvements.  The 2-year project started in February 2003. The results of the project, including a database of Critical Control Points in the analysed chains, are available on the project website www.organichaccp.org. The Project Partners   University of Newcastle (UNEW), Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.   Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland.   Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL), Co-penhagen, Denmark.   Italian National Research Council, Institute of Food Sci-ence (CNR-ISA), Avellino, Italy.   University of Aberdeen (UNIABDN), Aberdeen, United Kingdom.   Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Biological Agriculture (LBI) Vienna, Austria.   Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal.   Agro EcoConsultancy BV (Agro Eco), Bennekom, The Netherlands.   National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO), Oslo, Norway. 

Grape production and Wine Processing. Control of Quality and Safety in Organic Production Chains

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