Kitchen Pride and Pesticides
We take great pride in our growing processes which guarantees that customers are getting a mushroom that is grown under one of the best food safety programs in the country.
Kitchen Pride is one of only a few, if not the only, mushroom suppliers in the country to have attained the GFSI certification (Global Food Safety Initiatives) in both our farming and packing operations.
Our mushrooms are grown indoors under very controlled and environmental safe conditions. Included in our quality control process is to test our mushrooms for chemical residue, and in our 20+ year history, we have never shown any residue because of the manner we grow.
Let’s look at the stages of how we grow our mushrooms.
Our mushrooms are grown in a substrate which is 99.2% organic material. This material is primarily wheat straw with organic fertilizers. These materials are intensively composted outdoors over a three week period where temperatures within the piles can reach 180 degrees F.
Once the substrate had reached the proper degree of decomposition, the substrate is moved into the indoor composting rooms where it undergoes very tight temperature control and is pasteurized. This week-long Phase II process creates a very selective growing medium which prevents many potential fungal diseases from growing.
The design of the farm and the practices that have been employed allow us to use minimal chemical control measures. All air that enters the farm is filtered with high efficiency hepa filters. These filters are similar to those used in hospitals. The sanitation practices we have developed are another key to maintaining a low disease presence.
Through our integrated pest management system chemicals are used sparingly and only when necessary. Organically certified pesticides are our first choice.
Kitchen Pride has multiple food safety audits performed annually and has always been graded in the top tier.
Our customers can be confident that Kitchen Pride mushrooms have been grown under strict food safety guidelines and environmentally friendly standards.