Last week on his audio blog, PMA Chief Science & Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker discussed operational perspectives of product sampling, particularly in-field raw product testing. He noted that some businesses have implemented in-field or pre-harvest testing programs instead of testing and holding finished product. These testing programs rely on field sampling two to seven days prior to harvest, which permits enough time to sample the field, test the product, and get the results back from the lab so that a “negative” result can essentially “clear” the field for the scheduled harvest date.

“If testing does reveal a ‘positive’ there is time to perform confirmation tests. If these also come out positive, the affected product is not harvested and public health is not compromised in any way. As a side benefit, since the contaminated product remains in the field, the event can be studied and perhaps the cause of contamination can be determined,” Dr. Bob added.

However, there are challenges to in-field pre-harvest testing. For example, delaying harvest to permit product testing may impact a grower’s flexibility to hit a specific harvest window in a tight market. In-field testing also leaves open a potential window of vulnerability. Also, pre-harvest or raw product testing requires active and complete communication between growers, shippers and processors. Test results obtained by any party sourcing raw products from common fields or lots must be shared in a timely fashion prior to harvest.

For more thoughts on raw product testing, visit the Ask Dr. Bob blog. Tomorrow, the next post in this series will explore how data from testing programs can be used.

According to a new report from USDA’s Economic Research Service, the fruit and vegetable export industry in Peru has expanded rapidly over the last 20 years and has made Peru an important player in world markets for a number of commodities. Peru is the world’s leading asparagus exporter, and other horticultural products may follow suit.

Several factors contribute to Peru’s success: a favorable business environment, trade agreements, low labor costs, and a climate that favors production of many fruit and vegetable products. Peru was able to capture significant market share in both the United States and Europe (and occasionally Northeast Asia) for a variety of fruit and vegetable products. This increased market share has had varied impacts on U.S. production and exports. In some instances, it has displaced domestic industries, as was the case in the processed asparagus industry.

In other cases, such as processed artichokes, the USDA report says that new Peruvian supplies in the U.S. market do not compete with U.S. growers. In still other instances, such as in the table grape trade, the United States finds itself competing with Peru in certain months for third-country markets, such as Northeast Asia and the United Kingdom. Peru’s continued success in the sector will require overcoming challenges, such as infrastructure bottlenecks, risk exposure due to narrow export portfolios, water management issues, and a complicated land tenure situation.

Here on Field to Fork, we talk about global trade issues from a variety of perspectives (click on the Global Trade link on the right side of the screen). In addition to our thoughts on this blog, we also offer members various resources via the PMA website on international trends and issues.

We’re all aware of the strong financial protection the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) affords our industry – especially the PACA Trust that puts produce creditors ahead of others in the event of a bankruptcy. The Dispute Resolution Corp. (DRC) was created to provide some of the services PACA does, but it doesn’t include the trust. For years there have been conversations about creating a PACA-like trust in Canada to provide that similar protection for sales in the Canadian marketplace, but so far that’s all it’s been – talk.

The North American Trade Committee (NATC) met in mid-February as part of ongoing trilateral meetings to address issues affecting North American produce trade, including this issue. NATC comprises industry organizations from across Canada/U.S./Mexico, including PMA and other U.S.-based groups, the Canadian Produce Marketing Association and Canadian Horticultural Council, and Mexican organizations. Canadian exporters enjoy the protection of the PACA Trust when shipping to the U.S. while there is no reciprocal treatment of U.S. exporters to Canada. In the United States, it is estimated the PACA Trust has saved produce sellers (including Canadian exporters) more than $1 billion.

NATC is calling for the establishment of financial risk mitigation provisions in Canada similar to the existing mechanisms available under the PACA Trust. The PACA Trust has proved itself over 25 years of use in the United States, and it’s time we have similar protections in Canada. We expect this issue to come up when top-level ag officials from the United States and Canada meet this spring. We urge a little less talk and a lot more action.

Here at Field to Fork we’ve written about produce being the best “value meal” around based both on average costs ($2.18) and on bargain-hunter prices (88 cents) for 4.5 cups or nine servings a day. 

PMA’s research, “The Cost of the Recommended Daily Servings of Fresh Produce,” (member login required) and USDA’s study, “How Much Do Fruits and Vegetables Cost?,” each show what a bargain fresh fruits and vegetables are. PMA’s study covers pricing for the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010, and USDA’s research covers 2008. In addition the methodologies are different, which will result in different average prices. 

So exactly where are the bargains? The following prices are the averages over the length of the PMA study: 

 USDA’s study covered all forms of fruits and vegetables (fresh, dried, canned, frozen, 100% juice), and it did break out average prices by form. However, USDA only looked at 22 types of fresh fruit and 35 fresh types of vegetables, so the lists between the PMA and USDA studies are not identical. For half-cup servings for fresh produce, here are USDA’s results: 

If your favorite commodity isn’t listed, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a bargain, and you can take a look at the studies to see where it falls. The takeaway is that consumers have access to a wide variety of delicious, nutritious fresh produce that is not expensive, and that’s a message consumers and the industry can take to the bank.

Recently the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service announced the next (and possibly final, unless the committee is re-chartered) meeting of the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee will be February 28 and March 1 in Arlington, Virginia. The committee’s purpose is to examine the full spectrum of issues faced by the fruit and vegetable industry and to provide suggestions and ideas to the Secretary of Agriculture on how the agency can tailor its programs to meet the fruit and vegetable industry’s needs.

Topics of discussion at the advisory committee meeting will include the following: GAP harmonization, traceability and audit requirements, food safety updates, local farmer/education initiatives, commodity purchasing programs, and working group reports and recommendations to the full committee.

We’ve talked about the FVIAC here on Field to Fork before. There are 14 PMA leaders counted among the group’s membership – including Board of Directors Chairman Mike O’Brien of Schnuck Markets and PMA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lorna Christie. In addition, our own state agriculture secretary Ed Kee is part of the committee.

While I’m not sure who from PMA’s Government Relations team will be attending this upcoming meeting, I am certain that the meeting’s discussions will help USDA better understand our industry, its issues, and how USDA can help. Look for an update on meeting highlights after March 1.

Last week on his audio blog, PMA Chief Science and Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker discussed the challenges inherent in product sampling. Citing research from the Center for Produce Safety, he noted that because the industry faces both low-frequency contamination and low pathogen survivability events, it’s crucial for sampling methods to be constructed in order to detect even sporadic, low levels of key pathogens. He added that, when contamination does occur, it is not uniform; when contamination is found in a field, it tends to be random and isolated. This can make follow-up testing a big challenge.

Using a single production block (10 acres) of fresh spinach as an example, Dr. Bob went on to illustrate how those plants are sampled. Planted at a density of about four million plants to the acre, the production block has approximately 40 million plants in it. Each spinach plant at the time of harvest has four to six leaves, so choosing the middle of that range, that makes the total number of leaves in our production block around 200 million.

“Today, sampling programs generally follow a ‘Z’ pattern originally developed for pesticide residue sampling, which is a much different sampling challenge than microorganisms. Along the ‘Z’ pattern, the sampler chooses 15 points and collects four samples from each point for a total of 60 samples per block. The size of the sample generally ranges from 25 grams to 100 grams per sample point or about 50 to 200 leaves.

“That means a maximum number of 12,000 leaves are collected in any given field sample of 60 points. These are generally mixed in a sample bag to form a composite sample. From this composite, 50 to 200 leaves are selected to create a test sample. So, in our block of 200 million potential leaves, our test comes down to evaluating 50 to 200 leaves,” he noted.

For more insights on the intricacies of product sampling, visit the Ask Dr. Bob blog for additional details. Tomorrow, the next post in this series will explore the topic of raw versus finished product testing.

Last month, I read that a Consumer Reports poll found that only one-fifth of U.S. adults were aware of having purchased food, medication, or a product (other than a car) that was recalled in the past three years. The survey found that half of Americans were not confident that manufacturers and retailers shared safety information with government agencies and two-fifths lacked confidence that manufacturers and retailers provided consumers with appropriate product recall information.

The survey also found that consumers were more likely to find out about product recalls from the media than any other source. Nearly two-thirds of those consumers who had experienced a recent food recall and a slight majority of those who purchased a recalled medication found out about the recall from a news report.

It will be interesting to see how consumer awareness of recalls increases in light of the changes in the new food safety law, which strengthens FDA’s authority to require recalls. Specifically, when senior FDA officials have a reasonable belief that food presents and imminent threat of serious harm, FDA may request a voluntary recall by a company. If the company refuses, the bill sets out a procedure by which the FDA Secretary orders a recall.

You can learn more about the new law by checking out our analysis on the PMA website.

Last month during PMA’s first Government Affairs Committee meeting in Washington, DC, a committee member talked about the challenges in finding government information online – specifically the difficulties discovered in locating data on agency websites. While we’ve developed resources to help members navigate agencies, I wanted to highlight a complementary effort by USDA that’s coming up next week.

On Thursday, February 24, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is holding a free Webinar focused on the agency’s Market News reports and information. The Webinar aims to help participants get the most out of the information available on the Market News Portal, including customized views and downloads of data from as far back as 1998 for wholesale or terminal markets, retail, shipping point prices, imports and domestic movements, and specialty crops.

The deadline to register for this event is February 21. To register, go here. If you have questions, contact Christopher Purdy at USDA AMS, +1 (202) 720-3209. In addition, AMS has let me know they have an online narrated overview of its services.

As you know, PMA is active in the Partnership for Food Safety Education, which offers the Fight BAC!, Team Food Safety, and Be Food Safe programs. As a member benefit, you can use all of the consumer food safety education resources of these programs free. You might use them with your employees, at community events, or as a link on your web site to show that you care about consumers and their safety. In addition to general tips, there is specific information about produce safety.

Recently, Fight BAC! offered the following information about safety for older adults: “As we age it becomes harder for the body to recognize and rid the body of harmful bacteria and other pathogens that cause infections. Especially for people age 75 and older and those with chronic underlying conditions, a foodborne illness can be lengthy and severe, and could lead to hospitalization or death.

Research has found that older adults with relatively more education are both less likely to follow recommended safe food handling practices and less likely to perceive themselves as at risk for foodborne illness.”

Take advantage of resources that can help older adults and all consumers handle food safely.

In February, Freshfel, the European fresh produce association, launched a new consumer-oriented web site on fresh produce, enjoyfresh.eu. It’s full of great information for consumers, such as handling tips, recipes, nutrition facts, and links to more detailed information. In addition, it pulls back the curtain on the industry so consumers can understand how our supply chain operates. We’ve often said in Field to Fork that it’s important to connect consumers to their food and to tell our story.

Luc Clerx, chairman of the Freshfel Promotion, Communication and Image Committee, said: “Fruit and vegetables offer a wealth of benefits to consumers, but those are hardly converted into commercial value. Enjoyfresh.eu is therefore a significant step to move ahead, highlight these assets and change the collective unconsciousness. As consumption continues to stagnate across Europe, it is important that Freshfel takes the lead to boost the image of the category.”

Freshfel notes: “Enjoyfresh.eu is designed for consumers, public authorities and decision makers, the media and also stakeholders of the fresh produce sector. Sections about production and quality offer an insight into various production methods…. Moreover, (another) section is devoted to all kind of sustainability aspects, ranging from environmental ones to social responsibility. There is also statistical background information on production, trade and consumption patterns available….”

Developed by a European organization, enjoyfresh.eu has great information for any consumer who reads English. Check it out.