The application of a HACCP-informed risk assessment to mizuna and tomato crops grown on ISS in Veggie to develop a baseline food safety plan within the constraints of space mission food production

The prevention of human and plant diseases is critical for a robust space crop production system. We have applied a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) framework to the cultivation of crops on the International Space Station (ISS) in the Veggie hardware to develop a baseline food safety plan that can help inform standards for crops grown within the limitations of spaceflight. This plan was applied to the VEG-04 and VEG-05 experiments in which mizuna and tomato were grown under different lighting and harvest regimes. Experiments were carried out in two Veggie facilities, one with a red-rich light recipe and one with blue-rich lighting, with corresponding ground control experiments conducted at Kennedy Space Center in ISS environmental simulators. Potential human pathogens were not detected on plants grown in the VEG-04 and 05 experiments with the exception of S. aureus on one mizuna plant in VEG-04B. Pre-flight procedures for hardware and seed sanitization were identified as control points. While the HACCP approach is applied here to VEG-04 and 05 crops, space crop production presents unique challenges in monitoring and control that will require the development of new technologies or methods to validate the safety of foods grown in spaceflight.