Efforts to ensure industry agreement on the sanitary design of specialty crop equipment has led AEM to help develop and work to finalize a new industry standard.
Available on ASABE's website, S664 DEC2025 Direct to Consumption Specialty Crop Machine Hygienic Design Requirement aims to provide guidance and direction on sanitary equipment design. The standard focuses on equipment geared toward harvesting direct-to-consumption specialty crops.
“This is a fantastic example of AEM and our members working hand-in-hand with regulatory officials to identify an industry concern and address it through a formalized consensus,” said AEM Senior Director of Agricultural Services Austin Gellings.
Starting in 2022, AEM engaged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding concerns about food-borne illness outbreaks being tied to specialty crop harvesting equipment being used in the field. In response to the outbreaks, AEM and its members took on the task of working to bring industry peers together and drive development of what eventually became S664 DEC2025 Direct to Consumption Specialty Crop Machine Hygienic Design Requirement.
The standard does not apply to all specialty crops and associated equipment, but rather on those specialty crops that are direct-to-consumption and without a kill step to eliminate any potential pathogens.
“This standard is reflective of the current state of the specialty crop industry, and it is designed to help provide appropriate guidance and direction to equipment end users, understanding machinery in this space is still emerging and we want to encourage innovation,” added Gellings.
For more information on the standard, visit ASABE's website or contact AEM’s Austin Gellings at agellings@aem.org.
