Next month, the Center for Produce Safety will hold its 2013 Research Symposium, June 25-26 at the Wegmans Conference Center in Rochester, New York. A few weeks ago, I shared that noted food safety attorney Bill Marler will present the CPS keynote address on June 25 on the evolving legal and financial realities of produce food safety and what it means for the industry. Today I’m taking a detailed look at the following food safety issues that will be discussed:

• A series on Listeria. Topics include a discussion of Listeria and produce (what you need to know and lessons learned to manage risks); Listeria 101; and living the reality of a Listeria contamination event.
• Composts and Ag Practices/Pathogen Survival. Topics include validating Salmonella inactivation during thermal processing of the physically heat-treated chicken litter as a soil amendment and organic fertilizer; validation of testing methods for the detection and quantification of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., fecal coliforms and non-pathogenic E. coli in compost; an investigation of E. coli survival on contaminated crop residue; and glucosinolate-derived compounds as a green manure for controlling E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in soil.
• Water Quality for Irrigation and Postharvest Practices. Topics include an assessment of E. coli as an indicator of microbial quality or irrigation water use for produce; an evaluation of sampling protocol to provide science-based metrics for use in identification of Salmonella in irrigation water testing programs in mixed produce farms in the Suwannee River watershed; enhancing the efficacy of fresh produce washing operations through establishing monitoring methods and water disinfection technologies based on a combination of filtration and UV; and parameter optimization to reduce susceptibility of tomatoes and peppers to post-harvest contamination, pathogen transfer and proliferation of Salmonella.
• Pathogen Transference: Preharvest, Harvest and Packing. Topics include the likelihood of cross‐contamination of head lettuce by E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and norovirus during hand harvest and recommendations for glove sanitizing and use; pathogen transfer risks associated with specific tomato harvest and packing operations; the survival, transfer, and inactivation of Salmonella on plastic materials used in tomato harvest; E- coli O157:H7 in bioaerosols from cattle production areas: evaluation of proximity and airborne transport on leafy green crop contamination.
• Sanitization of soft fruits with ultraviolet (UV-C) light. Topics include the influence of the pre-harvest environment on the physiological state of Salmonella and its impact on increased survival capability; Comparative assessment of field survival of Salmonella enterica and E. coli O157:H7 on cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) in relation to sequential cutting and re-growth; and the role of riparian zones in bacteria dispersal to produce farms.

Finally, though I’ve pointed out this resource before, I’m mentioning it again because it translates produce science and research into layman’s terms. Available on our website, A Practical Guide to the Scientific Research Presented at The Center for Produce Safety’s 2012 Research Symposium includes research from the 18 projects covered during the 2012 symposium presentations, information from the annual or final reports for each project, prior research funded through CPS relevant to these findings, posters on display at the symposium, and panel discussions following session presentations.

To register for the 2013 CPS Research Symposium, visit the CPS website. To discuss this or other industry food safety research needs, join the Food Safety Community on PMA Xchange.

In addition, if you’re planning to join us in Rochester for the CPS event, we invite you to join us the day after for a Fresh Connections event on June 27 - where PMA Chief Science & Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker will explore key findings, highlights and business implications from the 2013 symposium. More details on Fresh Connections: Rochester will be available soon.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Consumer Federation of America’s 2013 Food Policy Conference. I’ve attended this meeting before and always came away with some valuable information and insights to share with colleagues and members. This year’s program addressed a number of key issues ranging from the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), food waste, immigration reform, and nutrition topics. Here’s a recap of what I heard and learned:

• On FSMA, FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Mike Taylor shared his thoughts on FSMA implementation with Food Safety News’ Helena Bottemiller. They discussed a variety of areas including the reworking of produce exemptions (FDA seeking industry comment on these), resource constraints (FDA considering fees to fill funding gaps, though industry is opposed to this tactic), and OMB deletions of environmental and product testing from the proposed rules (FDA seeks expertise on these issues and anticipates them being in the final rules).
• On nutrition labeling, Taylor said final menu labeling rules should be published by the end of the year, while front-of-the-pack labeling rules are being considered by the agency along with a proposed rule to update the Nutrition Facts label (expected in 2014).
• With regard to consumer trends, Kate Weigle from Edelman shared that 79 percent of consumers said their budget reflects their food purchasing decisions; 68 percent believe healthful foods are too expensive. Also, 95 percent of men and 98 percent of women think about the nutrients meals provide their family. Seventy-two percent of men and 73 percent of women try to purchase food raised or grown locally.
• On kids and branded food items, a representative from the Rudd Center at Yale University said that the effect of a licensed character on food does have an impact. Their child research revealed that kids think branded food tastes better (even though it was the exact same as non-branded food).
• Concerning food waste, an Environmental Protection Agency representative discussed the agency’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, with a focus on the top two tiers (source reduction and donation). The Food Marketing Institute shared that consumer misunderstanding of sell-by/use-by dates is a key contributing factor to food waste, followed by the Natural Resources Defense Council stating that, in the United Kingdom, one retailer is printing storage and handling information on their produce department bags.
• The immigration session was interesting (especially in light of what was happening on Capitol Hill that day). Call me biased, but the standout panelist was Maureen Torrey of Torrey Farms. Her emotional story of dealing with farm labor issues and I-9 audits and enforcement measures held the audience’s attention until she had finished – which was met with a well-deserved round of applause.

In all, it was a very informative meeting and if you’d like additional information on any of the items above, please feel free to connect with me on PMA Xchange.

In tomorrow’s Federal Register, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will announce the extension of the comment period for both the proposed produce safety and preventive controls for human foods rules. The comment period will now close September 16, instead of May 16 as originally announced by the agency.

In the forthcoming notice, FDA stated the reason for the extension is to allow interested persons additional time to submit comments on the proposed rules and to keep the comment period for the information collection provisions associated with the rules consistent with the comment period for the proposed rules.

Certainly a 120-day extension will give industry stakeholders more time to consider the feedback in response to the multitude of questions FDA posed in these proposals. Since the proposals’ publication in January, PMA’s Produce Safety, Science and Technology Committee has been poring over these proposals and developing draft comments in response.

What remains unclear is if FDA will release any of the other Food Safety Modernization Act proposed rules during this extended comment period. During the first FSMA public meeting in February in Washington, DC, PMA Chief Science and Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker stressed that to fully inform comments to FDA, we need to see the proposed Foreign Supplier Verification Program because it, the produce rule, and preventive controls are so intertwined. Foreign Supplier Verification has been under review for more than a year now.

PMA members who need to learn more about the FSMA are invited to visit our FSMA resource center and join the FSMA Community on PMA Xchange.

With the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program in late February, here at PMA we’ve been waiting for the next round of consumer activist pesticide lists to appear and they finally did yesterday.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its 2013 “Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen” shopper’s guide. While this guide is likely to generate mainstream media attention (along with generating confusion among consumers), PMA and industry members throughout the produce supply chain can help counter EWG’s false claims, including directing consumers to the Alliance for Food and Farming’s website where consumers can learn the facts.

The website is a consumer resource for science-based information about the safety of organic and conventional produce backed by expertise in toxicology, pharmacology, risk assessment, and nutrition. On the site, interested consumers can also put residues in proper perspective by using the Pesticide Residue Calculator.

In a letter to members yesterday, PMA President Bryan Silbermann offered additional suggestions for setting this important record straight with your customers and consumers:

• Communicate the truth about pesticides by using the factual information found on the Safe Fruits and Veggies website on packaging, in-store signage, websites, social platforms, dietitian newsletters and even on menus.
• Educate people about the importance of eating MORE fruits and vegetables, not less, for better health; the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s website is a terrific resource.
• Advise people to “Just Wash It” with water if concerned about pesticide residues, guidance that’s based on government recommendations.
• Share stories about growers’ farming practices and food safety commitment to give consumers the complete picture behind their food.

He added that “because PMA believes in the business of informing consumers and upholding the industry’s commitment to providing safe produce, we must set the Dirty Dozen record straight. This is also why PMA remains one of the Alliance’s largest financial supporters and I proudly serve as vice chair of its board of directors. Our support empowers industry to counter misinformation about pesticide residues on fresh produce with science — the same foundation we use to continuously improve food safety.”

Members who have questions or who need further assistance are encouraged to contact PMA Director of Public Relations Meg Miller.

How are you using the Alliance’s materials in your consumer outreach? Tell us about it in the Increasing Consumption Community on PMA Xchange.

On Monday, the Center for Produce Safety announced the agenda for its 2013 Research Symposium, which will be held June 25-26 at Wegmans Conference Center in Rochester, New York. Tours of Wegmans’ stores that highlight the retail industry’s food safety responsibilities will be offered June 24 as part of the symposium registration.

Noted food safety attorney Bill Marler will present the CPS keynote address on June 25. In a press statement, Stephen Patricio, CPS chair and president of Westside Produce, noted that Mr. Marler “will put in perspective why the work of the Center for Produce Safety is important.”

Sixteen research projects will be presented at the symposium. Each project will include industry context to the research and its application. Presenting scientists will be available for one-on-one questions from symposium participants. Nineteen posters highlighting research in the CPS pipeline will be on display throughout the event. The four sessions at this year’s event will focus on:

• Composts and Ag Practices/Pathogen Survival
• Water Quality for Irrigation and Postharvest Practices
• Pathogen Transference: Pre-harvest, Harvest and Packing
• Hot Topics (includes sanitation of fruit using ultraviolet light, the pre-harvest environment and Salmonella, and more)

If you’re interested in learning more about how the CPS’ work is translated into industry practices, you will want to read A Practical Guide to the Scientific Research Presented at The Center for Produce Safety’s 2012 Research Symposium. This report includes research from the 18 projects covered during the 2012 symposium’s presentations, information from the annual or final reports for each project, prior research funded through CPS relevant to these findings, posters on display at the symposium, and panel discussions following session presentations.

Lastly, on a related CPS note, we announced yesterday the hiring of Dr. Jim Gorny in the new position vice president of food safety and technology, starting on May 1. In this role, Jim will strengthen our initiatives to build member value in the areas of science and technology, including food safety research, biotechnology, agricultural innovations, process and packaging technology and environmental sustainability. In addition, he will continue his long-standing role with the Center for Produce Safety.

To register for the 2013 CPS Research Symposium, visit the CPS website or check out the symposium’s full agenda for details on each of the sessions mentioned above.

Let me say right off that I am not a statistician. So, though I love looking at data, I also listen to others who look at the same data and discern different interpretations. Just such a thing is happening in the wake of a March CDC report: Attribution of Foodborne Illnesses, Hospitalizations, and Deaths to Food Commodities by using Outbreak Data, United States, 1998–2008. The report notes that contaminated fruits and vegetables cause the most cases of foodborne illness. Though statistically accurate, the numbers alone may not tell the whole story.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest issued its recent Outbreak Alert! 2001-2010 in March as well, and offered its analysis of the CDC findings. CSPI says: “Although produce is responsible for the greatest overall numbers of outbreaks and illnesses, pound-for-pound, fruits and vegetables are among the safest foods to eat. When illnesses are considered together with consumption rates, meats, poultry, and seafood are far more likely to cause illness than produce.”

Don’t get me wrong, this is not an effort to shift blame or take any obligation off our industry for continual improvement in food safety practices and outcomes. This is not about a food fight over who is more to blame for illnesses or what commodity has the greater public health impact. This is to point out that the study foodborne illness is extremely complex –even beyond the complexities of analyzing data.

Another in-the-know person, Dr. David Acheson of Leavitt Partners (and formerly of FDA), shared his thoughts on this in early April in Food Safety News. He noted that produce shouldn’t get “undue blame or focus to the detriment of other foods that need just as much – or more – focus.”

In addition, he took a look at where foodborne illnesses occur: “Although occurrences in restaurants and private homes impacted the fewest number of people per outbreak, the number of outbreaks were the greatest in these two locations, and contributed to the greatest number of illnesses. The number of illnesses associated with restaurant outbreaks (32,919) were, in fact, almost three times greater than that of any other single location–with private homes coming in second (12,666). Again, while we don’t want to take the food safety onus off the food manufacturing industry, it is important that food safety be considered at further steps of the chain where the food is handled and served, rather than blindly placing blame on the manufacturer or farm, and thus putting the majority of the ‘regulatory eggs’ into those baskets.”

Again – this isn’t about the blame game, it’s about recognition of the full spectrum of foodborne illness and appropriate interventions. PMA supports industry food safety efforts and works with government to further enhance food safety. We also support the Partnership for Food Safety Education to help consumers understand how to handle fresh produce safely. PFSE is working now on a revised safe produce handling campaign for consumer influencers.

As Dr. Acheson put it: If lettuce is chopped on a cutting board that wasn’t properly cleaned after raw chicken was on it, is it fair to incriminate lettuce as the cause of salmonellosis? It’s these kinds of issues that make what seems like straightforward data analysis not so straightforward, and makes discerning the truly high risk foods very difficult.”

What is your take on this? Let’s discuss it in the Food Safety Community on PMA Xchange.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a new report titled Analysis of Results for FDA Food Defense Vulnerability Assessments and Identification of Activity Types. This report was required under Section 106 of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which I am briefly mentioning it here.

The report compiles findings from vulnerability assessments FDA has conducted on more than 50 products or processes, leading to the identification of processing steps of highest concern and to potential mitigation strategies to reduce vulnerabilities. The study utilized the results from 25 vulnerability assessments to determine if a potential “threshold” score for the implementation of mitigation strategies could be identified.

I participated in one of these vulnerability assessments through the Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism in 2006. For the better part of a week, FDA, DHS, USDA, and FBI representatives led industry invitees through the CARVER-Shock methodology to identify vulnerabilities in the fresh-cut produce processing environment.

Though it’s very likely many PMA members already have strong food defense/security measures in place as a result of the provisions of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, we have linked to this new FDA report from our FSMA Resource Center should you wish to consider or incorporate its findings into any operational food defense plans.

Almost one month ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released Pilot Projects for Improving Product Tracing along the Food Supply System, a report highlighting the results of two traceability pilot studies conducted by the Institute of Food Technologists for FDA. These pilot studies were required under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Yesterday, FDA announced in the Federal Register that it is extending the industry comment period to July 3; comments were originally due April 4. After the comment period closes, FDA will begin development on a proposed rule for food traceability – the requirements of which can be found in the recordkeeping portion of the FSMA statute.

As we said in an earlier post, the IFT report contains recommendations on traceability that are consistent and align with our industry’s Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI). PTI will be submitting comments to FDA on the report by the new deadline.

In the meantime, PMA members can learn more by visiting our FSMA resource center and joining the FSMA Community on PMA Xchange.

Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released two resources that address frequently asked questions about the proposed Food Safety Modernization Act rules on produce safety and preventive controls for human foods. These FAQs have been added to our FSMA resource center so that members can easily access them to learn more about the proposals.

Some of the topics addressed in the proposed produce safety rule FAQs include definitions of farms, mixed-type facilities, qualified exemptions and modified requirements, as well as subparts of the proposal: agricultural water, soil amendments, and records.

Some of the topics addressed in the proposed preventive controls rule FAQs include modernization of CGMPs, new definitions established in the proposed rule, exemptions on raw agricultural commodities, elements of a food safety plan under HARPC, and more.

In addition to these FDA resources, you can also access PMA’s own Webinars (recordings and presentations) and proposal analyses through our FSMA resource center. We’re updating this center as more information on FSMA becomes available. PMA members can also join the FSMA Community on PMA Xchange for discussions and updates as they happen.

Last week the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) announced that registration is now open for its June 25-26 Research Symposium at Wegmans Conference Center in Rochester, New York. This year, (in addition to hearing results from CPS-funded research projects, poster sessions from CPS and U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists, and industry panel discussions), attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in exclusive food safety tours of retail and organic research facilities.

Recently PMA’s Chief Science and Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker and Hank Giclas, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Science & Technology for Western Growers published A Practical Guide to the Scientific Research Presented at The Center for Produce Safety’s 2012 Research Symposium. This report includes research from the 18 projects covered during the 2012 symposium’s presentations, information from the annual or final reports for each project, prior research funded through CPS relevant to these findings, posters on display at the symposium, and panel discussions following session presentations.

Dr. Whitaker and Mr. Giclas developed this report as a guide that the produce industry will find of use in understanding the latest research and in determining how to apply the CPS research to day-to-day operations. They’ve also included key findings from each project along with an interpretation of what those findings mean for growing, harvesting, and processing operations.

The report also includes observations and recommendations regarding industry issues and opportunities and a review of several emerging food safety tools that demonstrate potential benefit for the industry.

To view this report, visit the PMA website. To register for the 2013 CPS Research Symposium, visit the CPS website.