Food Safety

At Braga Ranch, we’ve made food safety our highest priority. Our customers and consumers of fresh vegetables deserve the safest, highest quality food supply — and that starts with our farm.

Our internal food safety program is continually updated to exceed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. Employees are continuously trained on keeping our farms free of contaminants and implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS).

Our Commitment
In addition to the ongoing audits performed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement (LGMA), Braga Ranch hires independent third-party auditors to assure our crops and growing conditions surpass government regulations and meet our own high standards.

Braga Ranch is LGMA-compliant, and our president, Rodney Braga, has been a vocal spokesperson within the industry and with the national and international media to help bring awareness to what constitutes good agricultural practices and how farmers are working to assure a safe food supply.

We welcome each audit opportunity—planned and unplanned—to discuss the importance of food safety with our employees, government regulators, legislators and the industry leaders.

The following programs and procedures are part of normal, day-to-day operations at Braga Ranch. Documentation is always available for verification when any auditors visit us:

• GAP & FSMS Program
• Pest Control Program
• Trace/Recall Program
• Farming Policies/Procedures
• Sanitation Program
• Independent Lab Microbial Testing
• Monthly Self Inspection
• Food Security Program
• Guidelines for Handling Regulatory Inspections
• Monthly Food Safety Meetings for Management
• Weekly tailgate meeting for employees
• Strict Product Standards
• Third Party Audit Program