Confidential baseline

One of the more intriguing story lines to come out of Tuesday's food safety hearing by the House Ag subcommittee was news that the United Fresh Produce Association board of directors has voted to establish a confidential database of microbiological testing data.
Robert Whitaker, speaking on behalf of the Washington, D.C.-based United Fresh Produce Association, ,said United’s board of directors earlier in May approved that the association move forward with a project that would organize a confidential database of microbiological testing data for the industry. Whitaker is vice president of processing and technology for NewStar Fresh Foods, Salinas, Calif., “This blinded database would allow, for the consolidation of ongoing testing information on an industry wide basis,” he said during his testimony. He said the database should be an effective way to establish baselines that could be measured over time and provide benchmarks against which companies could measure their own tests, he said. He said like-minded industry efforts by the beef and dairy industries proved helpful to regulators and industry.

TK: This effort may take considerable effort in resources and human capital to launch. It will be revealing to see how quickly this laudable intentin can coalesce into action, and how confident the industry will be about the confidential status of the data. I wonder why the USDA's microbiological testing program wouldn't serve just as well.