Food safety remix

Here is the news release about the reintroduction of the Safe Food Act.

From the release:

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today renewed their effort to consolidate food safety oversight in this country by reintroducing their Safe Food Act – legislation that calls for the development of a single food safety agency and the implementation of a food safety program to standardize American food safety activities.

Later in the release:

“From the E. coli outbreak that pulled spinach off store shelves to the Taco Bell outbreak that sickened X of individuals, it is clear that our food safety structure is collapsing and endangering public health,” said DeLauro.

And concluding:

The new agency created by the lawmakers’ bill – dubbed the Food Safety Administration – would be the first of its kind, free from the entanglements of past regulators who have had to balance food safety with the competing priorities of drug approval or agriculture promotion.
Some of the new responsibilities under the Food Safety Administration include:
· Regular, but random, inspection of all food processing plants.
· Categorized review process for all foods to monitor and inspect them based on their risk, not their name.
· Increased oversight of imported foods.
· Established requirements for tracing foods to point of origin


TK: Nothing in this world is free of entanglements, least of all a new sprawling bureaucracy that seeks to pluck power and money from long established agencies. Should be quite a ride in Congress this year.

Spain's gain

I just visited this afternoon with Juan Calvo of Ibertrade in New York City. Juan filled me in on the latest regarding Spanish citrus.

A few Spanish oranges may have arrived, but the container terminals are swamped so it may take some time to move them out. Most of the Spanish citrus will come by container, but there may also be some breakbulk vessels at some point, he said.
Overall, a ballpark estimate is that their may be 30 to 40 containers sent from Spain to "test the waters." That may equal about 600 pallets or about 45,000 cartons, he said. Most of the fruit arrives with the required cold treatment already finished, he said.

He said the U.S. market was "rather confusing," with high pricing after the freeze giving way to softer prices and low promotional activity now for California navels. The majority of Spanish fruit are expected to be lane late variety navels, which is considered the hardiest Spanish navel. Some of the fruit will be packed in 18-kilo cartons, but he noted the standard pack in Spain is the 15-kilo wood, and that will represent the majority of volume.
Landed prices for Spanish navels is expected to be $20 and up, he said and volume will continue for several months, depending on market conditions. Lemons will also continue with steady supply, while clementines from Spain will wind down in about three weeks.

Baseline projections

Showing what the USDA thinks of the future of U.S. fruit and vegetable production and trade, baseline projections were released by the USDA's Economic Research Service.
The USDA today published baseline projections for horticultural crops for the next 10 years. Here is one spreadsheet that details most of the projections of acreage and production. It seems the USDA sees total acreage of horticultural crops fairly stable in the years ahead, though yield increases will boost volume.

Here is a 10-year projection of horticultural trade. The import share of horticultural consumption is projected to rise from 44% to 52% from 2005 to 2016.

Blues and grapes

The USDA's Agricultural Research Service has released its latest Food and Nutrition Research Briefs, and this issue spotlights a couple of produce items.

Another reason to love blueberries, from the ARS report:
Blueberries and grapes that contain a compound with the tongue-twisting name of pterostilbene (pronounced TARE-o-STILL-bean) might help the body combat a problematic protein, cytochrome P450. The protein is associated with increased risk of cancer.
In laboratory tests with liver cells from mice, pterostilbene suppressed a specific form of the protein


Late grapes, from the ARS:
Autumn King seedless grapes may begin showing up in supermarkets within two or three years. These light-green (technically known as "white") grapes are ready to harvest in late October. The timing is perfect, because that's when the U.S. harvest of another white seedless grape, summertime classic Thompson Seedless, is winding down.
Patented by the scientists and licensed to the industry-sponsored California Table Grape Commission, Fresno, Autumn King was made available for the first time in 2005 to grapevine nurseries. So far, the nurseries have produced more than 100,000 young Autumn King vines for planting in central California's commercial vineyards, where most of the nation's fresh-market grapes are grown.



Meanwhile, the USDA FAS reports that Israel temporarily detained a load of fresh pears from the U.S. in a case where Israel said its maximum residue levels were exceeded.

Advisory board picked for leafy greens agreement

Here is yesterday's news release from the CDFA about the leafy greens advisory board. A 13-member board with 10 alternates was named. A spokesman for the CDFA said that 41 handlers have signed the leafy greens agreement, representing about 90% of volume of the state's leafy green volume. The CDFA will release a full list of all the signatories by April 1.
"We don't think it's fair to say someone is out at this point when they may be coming in," said Steve Lyle. director of public affairs for the CDFA.

TK: I don't want to call out a fellow chronicler of produce news, but it's not insightful or productive to judge participation of firms, much less motive and intention, before the ink is dry on the leafy greens agreement on April 1.

Washington meetings

A snow storm has belted Washington D.C. and shut down the government for at least a couple of hours. United's government relations council is in town look at policy, sounding off on the board's call for strong federal oversight and possibly meeting with Ag Secretary Johanns this afternoon. The produce title of the farm bill - the subject of meetings yesterday by the specialty crop farm bill alliance - is expected to be introduced in the House by Cardoza and Putnam, possibly by early March.

Meanwhile, a study was released yesterday by United that speaks of the economic impact to fruit and vegetable growers from dropping the farm bill's planting restriction on program acres. Sources said the study shows the industry would take about a $3 billion hit.

Developing....

Douglas Powell: Part II

More on my Q and A with Kansas State University food safety professor Doug Powell. The full version will appear in The Packer.
As we pick up the conversation, Powell had just said that third party inspections are little more than the equivalent to annual department of health inspections of restaurants. What is needed is a culture change among growers and processors.

Q. How will that culture change?
All these systems and plans are great. But it’s not going to change until someone starts marketing the stuff. Why can you buy lettuce and tomatoes, and there is all sorts of investment about the earthy images, all this natural stuff, why not market based on coliform count?

Q. Doesn't that go against the common conviction that you can‘t be successful marketing food safety?
I’m saying that enough has gone on. After 20 outbreaks in lettuce and spinach, it’s time to market on food safety. Everyone says (that you can’t market food safety) but what do you think is going on day in and day out in the huge food industry?
Why do people buy organics? If you look at the marketing of organics, health is the number one reason.
How many times did you hear the line (last fall), “It is local so it’s safe.”
You had New Jersey and Texas saying our greens are safe because the aren't (from) California.
They had no microbiological basis to say that.
The company that figures out how to market this stuff on real data will find a very hungry public ready to buy their produce.

TK: The latest reports show 90% participation in the leafy greens marketing agreement. That would tend to dispel the notion that companies are trying to use food safety as competitive positioning. Powell certainly doesn't mince his words and a lot of what he says makes senses. Food safety must be embraced by growers or it won't work, and neither government oversight nor third party audits are be all, end all solutions.