State officials join groups developing produce safety standards
State officials join groups developing produce safety standards
COLLEGE PARK, MD -- With the Food & Drug Administration just beginning to consider a more stringent federal produce safety program, a new group of state food officials is drafting a model regulation that could be adopted by all 50 states.
Retailers, restaurants and produce industry groups have been drafting food- safety protocols in response to recent outbreaks, and now there is one more group in the mix.
Without a federal presence, states could begin adopting a patchwork set of regulations, Marion Aller, president of the Association of Food & Drug Officials, warned attendees of an April 13 produce safety meeting at FDA headquarters, here.
Dr. Aller is chairing a group charged with developing a model code to address food safety at the farm and packinghouse levels that could be in place quicker than a new federal regulation. She said that the ambitious effort may end up tailored to several high-risk commodities and could be folded into FDA's initiative if the federal agency chooses to write new regulations for the produce industry.
After several juice-related outbreaks, FDA instituted a regulatory program built on juice HACCP, FDA's Michelle Smith said at the daylong meeting. "I recognize juice is not produce," she said, but HACCP can be applied throughout the operation by identifying potential risk factors, writing safety plans, ensuring employee training and verifying importer operations. Consumer advocate Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that seafood HACCP would be a great model for the produce industry because it was developed for a wide variety of seafood handlers to prevent different hazards that in an array of seafood products.
"People want consistent standards," said Ms. Smith DeWaal.
Several speakers said that there is little evidence demonstrating that voluntary GAPs were being followed and making a difference.
The existing guidance on Good Agricultural Practices lacks specific criteria, making it difficult for growers to meet the guidelines, which may be different for each commodity and geographical area, said Dr. Aller, who is food safety director for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
Clemson University's Jim Rushing agreed, saying that the guidelines should be updated with specifics to train growers and assure uniformity across the states.
"We need specific answers based on science," he said.
Dr. Rushing said that few eastern U.S. growers were testing irrigation water because there are no rules that require it, adding that there is little uniformity among private auditing programs.
United Fresh Produce Association President Tom Stenzel said that there needs to be strong federal oversight, a consistent standard for domestic and foreign-grown products, and commodity-specific responses. Only five commodities have been linked to 80 percent of the outbreaks, he said.
Mr. Stenzel pointed to FDA's response to sprout-related outbreaks when it published guidelines that helped reduce food-safety problems. The sprout industry does not consider those guidelines voluntary, he said.
"We all need to be specific in our language when talking about produce safety," said Produce Marketing Association President Bryan Silbermann. "To properly communicate with consumers, FDA statements should be specific about products in question and not portraying all produce as risky."
PMA said that California's leafy greens initiative should be followed by "a robust federal effort that is verifiable and applies to any products grown in the U.S. or abroad."
"We need that to promote public confidence and avoid a patchwork approach to an issue crying out for an umbrella solution," said Mr. Silbermann.
Retailers, restaurants and produce industry groups have been drafting food- safety protocols in response to recent outbreaks, and now there is one more group in the mix.
Without a federal presence, states could begin adopting a patchwork set of regulations, Marion Aller, president of the Association of Food & Drug Officials, warned attendees of an April 13 produce safety meeting at FDA headquarters, here.
Dr. Aller is chairing a group charged with developing a model code to address food safety at the farm and packinghouse levels that could be in place quicker than a new federal regulation. She said that the ambitious effort may end up tailored to several high-risk commodities and could be folded into FDA's initiative if the federal agency chooses to write new regulations for the produce industry.
After several juice-related outbreaks, FDA instituted a regulatory program built on juice HACCP, FDA's Michelle Smith said at the daylong meeting. "I recognize juice is not produce," she said, but HACCP can be applied throughout the operation by identifying potential risk factors, writing safety plans, ensuring employee training and verifying importer operations. Consumer advocate Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that seafood HACCP would be a great model for the produce industry because it was developed for a wide variety of seafood handlers to prevent different hazards that in an array of seafood products.
"People want consistent standards," said Ms. Smith DeWaal.
Several speakers said that there is little evidence demonstrating that voluntary GAPs were being followed and making a difference.
The existing guidance on Good Agricultural Practices lacks specific criteria, making it difficult for growers to meet the guidelines, which may be different for each commodity and geographical area, said Dr. Aller, who is food safety director for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
Clemson University's Jim Rushing agreed, saying that the guidelines should be updated with specifics to train growers and assure uniformity across the states.
"We need specific answers based on science," he said.
Dr. Rushing said that few eastern U.S. growers were testing irrigation water because there are no rules that require it, adding that there is little uniformity among private auditing programs.
United Fresh Produce Association President Tom Stenzel said that there needs to be strong federal oversight, a consistent standard for domestic and foreign-grown products, and commodity-specific responses. Only five commodities have been linked to 80 percent of the outbreaks, he said.
Mr. Stenzel pointed to FDA's response to sprout-related outbreaks when it published guidelines that helped reduce food-safety problems. The sprout industry does not consider those guidelines voluntary, he said.
"We all need to be specific in our language when talking about produce safety," said Produce Marketing Association President Bryan Silbermann. "To properly communicate with consumers, FDA statements should be specific about products in question and not portraying all produce as risky."
PMA said that California's leafy greens initiative should be followed by "a robust federal effort that is verifiable and applies to any products grown in the U.S. or abroad."
"We need that to promote public confidence and avoid a patchwork approach to an issue crying out for an umbrella solution," said Mr. Silbermann.
