Compost Tea Safety

From: <Aquatfs_at_AOL.COM>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 12:45:43 EST

The suggestion by Douglas to incorporate HACCP into the production of compost
tea would be a step in the right direction, but may not be the ultimate
answer. There are significant differences between the theory and practice of
HACCP. If HACCP is applied and limited to the boundaries of a production
facility, the system may or may not work. The HACCP system works best if it
is implemented throughout the food chain. Meat processors have HACCP programs
but their suppliers (feedlots) may not. As a consequence, the quality and
microbial contamination of the incoming materials to the meat processing
plant may be very variable. Unless there is a kill step for pathogens (and
even then), the output from the plant will be dependent on the quality of the
incoming materials and the effectiveness of the meat plant's HACCP program.
In short, I am suggesting that we must more closely scrutinize the sources
and quality of materials used to make compost and compost teas. You can't
make a silk purse out of a sow's ear (I think that's the old saying?). For
example, proper composting ensures a reduction in pathogens. Can it achieve a
1 log, 2 log, 5 log, etc reduction? Can the starting pathogen load be high
enough that the expected X log reduction in pathogens leaves a residual load
in the finished product that is of concern?

We focus primarily on the methods used for producing compost teas. I think
that there should be an equal focus on the raw materials used for producing
compost teas. The methods that were used to produce the raw materials used
for making compost and compost teas must be scrutinized. I do not think that
it is possible to create composting and compost tea production systems that
can accommodate an infinite variability in the raw material quality. In
short, the HACCP concept may be useful, but only if it is applied from one
end to the other of the food production system. One of the problems that we
will face with this concept is that we may find a chicken and egg scenario.
In a predominantly non-organic food production system, it may be difficult to
find sufficient quantities of suitable materials to process for organic
farming inputs, especially for large scale organic farms.

Alan Ismond, P.Eng.
Aqua-Terra Consultants


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Received on Thu Nov 14 2002 - 12:56:06 EST

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