Food Safety Needs Assessment for North American Pecan Shellers

The United States is a leading producer of pecans globally. Despite significant contributions to the nation’s gross domestic product, little food safety guidance currently exists for pecan shellers. This survey identified typical food safety practices for a subset of North American pecan shellers. A 24-question Qualtrics online survey was distributed to shellers directly or through Cooperative Extension, commodity group, or association avenues. More than half of pecan shellers had a food safety plan in place (56.5%, 13/23) and treated in-shell pecans with hot water or steam (56.5%, 13/23), but these practices tended to be associated with operation size. A majority of the shellers conditioned in-shell pecans in water (73.9%, 17/23), but the time varied between <1 h (50.0%, 8/16), 1–2 h (6.3%; 1/16), 3–4 h (12.5%; 2/16), and >4 h (31.2%, 5/16). Of the shellers that condition in-shell pecans, 58.8% (10/17) reported using a sanitizer in the conditioning water. Chlorine-based sanitizers (chlorine dioxide, sodium hypochlorite, and calcium hypochlorite) were the most commonly used in conditioning water. Most shellers did not use a kill-step to treat pecan kernels (82.6%, 19/23). Findings from this survey can lead to the development of targeted food safety resources for use by the pecan industry.