California and Florida legislatures respond to recent outbreaks
California and Florida legislatures respond to recent outbreaks
State legislatures in California and Florida are considering sweeping new laws for produce in the wake of recent outbreaks, but tomato and leafy green growers are asking for different fixes.
While the produce industry responded to the E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens produced in the Salinas Valley with a marketing agreement, California Sen. Dean Florez (D) is pushing for state-enforced food-safety measures through legislation.
An outspoken critic of the government and industry's response to the spinach outbreak, Sen. Florez called an April 9 hearing to grill state officials about the recent E. coli report into last fall's spinach outbreak. At that hearing, he focused attention on the deficiencies cited in the Natural Selection Foods plant where the contaminated "Dole" brand baby spinach was processed and the lack of standards for irrigation water and chlorine produce washes.
Three bills have narrowly cleared one committee and are slated for an April 18 hearing in another California Senate committee.
One bill would give authorities power to recall, quarantine and destroy contaminated produce. California Department of Health Services would have the power to conduct periodic on-farm inspections, including testing of water, soil and produce.
A second bill would establish state-mandated Good Agricultural Practices and ban vegetable growers from using streams or creeks for irrigation water, substandard compost manure and from having toilet facilities in the leafy green growing fields.
A third bill would require traceback systems, and growers, handlers and processors would be required to maintain paperwork on every product shipped from field to consumers.
Farm groups, including Western Growers Association, oppose the bills, saying new legislation would duplicate the leafy greens marketing agreement, which is just being adopted by the industry. Under the agreement, handlers of leafy green commodities must accept product only from producers that follow specific food safety procedures.
"We are in the middle of April and the marketing agreement is in effect as we speak," but the legislation has not yet even reached the Senate floor or passed, said Paul Simonds of Western Growers Association.
He said that enshrining the program in legislation would also make it more difficult to change as food-safety science emerges. Growers can enhance the marketing agreement at anytime by asking an advisory board to change the standards, he said.
But in Florida, tomato growers are pushing for state legislation that would mandate food-safety inspections for tomato farms, tomato greenhouses, and tomato packinghouses and repacking facilities.
Another commodity that suffered from a series of recent outbreaks and which remains under the scrutiny of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is tomatoes. Since then, the Florida Tomato Exchange has taken a proactive approach to developing Good Agricultural Practices for tomato farms and greenhouses and Best Management Practices for tomato packinghouses. But the Florida tomato industry says that is not enough.
Under the industry-supported legislation, state inspectors would work with the Florida tomato industry to create Good Agricultural Practices, guidelines and standards and to implement an annual audit and inspection program. Fees collected from the program would pay the full cost of inspections and would be used for education and research. If signed by the governor, the new law would go into effect in July.
"We looked at the federal marketing order three years ago," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was not willing at that time to allow food safety to be a quality-related issue, he said.
"Since then, USDA has become more open to that approach," he said. But Mr. Brown said that the pending legislation, which is likely to reach the House floor in the coming weeks, would encompass all tomatoes and farms located across the state.
Florida tomato companies have been in talks with Florida and federal food regulators for three years, hashing out the inspection plans and audit structure and working towards amending state regulations.
"There is no issue more important than public confidence in our tomatoes -- and all tomatoes as a matter of fact," Mr. Brown said, adding that Florida tomato producers are not likely to advertise the new safety program as California leafy greens growers will do with their safety seal.
But California tomato growers will be watching Florida's mandatory inspection program closely, he said, as they may push for the same approach there.
While the produce industry responded to the E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens produced in the Salinas Valley with a marketing agreement, California Sen. Dean Florez (D) is pushing for state-enforced food-safety measures through legislation.
An outspoken critic of the government and industry's response to the spinach outbreak, Sen. Florez called an April 9 hearing to grill state officials about the recent E. coli report into last fall's spinach outbreak. At that hearing, he focused attention on the deficiencies cited in the Natural Selection Foods plant where the contaminated "Dole" brand baby spinach was processed and the lack of standards for irrigation water and chlorine produce washes.
Three bills have narrowly cleared one committee and are slated for an April 18 hearing in another California Senate committee.
One bill would give authorities power to recall, quarantine and destroy contaminated produce. California Department of Health Services would have the power to conduct periodic on-farm inspections, including testing of water, soil and produce.
A second bill would establish state-mandated Good Agricultural Practices and ban vegetable growers from using streams or creeks for irrigation water, substandard compost manure and from having toilet facilities in the leafy green growing fields.
A third bill would require traceback systems, and growers, handlers and processors would be required to maintain paperwork on every product shipped from field to consumers.
Farm groups, including Western Growers Association, oppose the bills, saying new legislation would duplicate the leafy greens marketing agreement, which is just being adopted by the industry. Under the agreement, handlers of leafy green commodities must accept product only from producers that follow specific food safety procedures.
"We are in the middle of April and the marketing agreement is in effect as we speak," but the legislation has not yet even reached the Senate floor or passed, said Paul Simonds of Western Growers Association.
He said that enshrining the program in legislation would also make it more difficult to change as food-safety science emerges. Growers can enhance the marketing agreement at anytime by asking an advisory board to change the standards, he said.
But in Florida, tomato growers are pushing for state legislation that would mandate food-safety inspections for tomato farms, tomato greenhouses, and tomato packinghouses and repacking facilities.
Another commodity that suffered from a series of recent outbreaks and which remains under the scrutiny of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is tomatoes. Since then, the Florida Tomato Exchange has taken a proactive approach to developing Good Agricultural Practices for tomato farms and greenhouses and Best Management Practices for tomato packinghouses. But the Florida tomato industry says that is not enough.
Under the industry-supported legislation, state inspectors would work with the Florida tomato industry to create Good Agricultural Practices, guidelines and standards and to implement an annual audit and inspection program. Fees collected from the program would pay the full cost of inspections and would be used for education and research. If signed by the governor, the new law would go into effect in July.
"We looked at the federal marketing order three years ago," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was not willing at that time to allow food safety to be a quality-related issue, he said.
"Since then, USDA has become more open to that approach," he said. But Mr. Brown said that the pending legislation, which is likely to reach the House floor in the coming weeks, would encompass all tomatoes and farms located across the state.
Florida tomato companies have been in talks with Florida and federal food regulators for three years, hashing out the inspection plans and audit structure and working towards amending state regulations.
"There is no issue more important than public confidence in our tomatoes -- and all tomatoes as a matter of fact," Mr. Brown said, adding that Florida tomato producers are not likely to advertise the new safety program as California leafy greens growers will do with their safety seal.
But California tomato growers will be watching Florida's mandatory inspection program closely, he said, as they may push for the same approach there.
