Produce traceback - Is PTI good enough for reformers?

Doug Powell of the Food Safety Network finds this gem from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minnesota. This well written piece by Maryn McKenna explores what's ahead for the new Administration, beyond the not insignificant task of fixing the economy.

But simmering in the background is a substantial grassroots movement that is pressing the new administration to enact change within the government as well, at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). And a key part of any reform may involve correcting the deficiencies in what is now a complex and fragmented system for tracing contaminated produce items to their source.


TK: the story goes on to examine the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak, the "one step up and one step back" already in place and the Produce Traceability Initiative. Here is what the report said about PTI:

The initiative, which is voluntary and would roll out between 2009 and 2012, gives reformers some of what they seek: It establishes a universal code that follows produce wherever it goes in the system. But it labels produce only by case, not by individual item. And it does not establish a single database than can be queried in a single step in seconds. The produce industry resisted appeals for that, fearing it would place too great a financial burden on smaller producers. The industry chose instead to have the information on each step of a case's progress reside in the computers of the various businesses it moved through.

That may not be enough to bring produce traceability and food safety in line with a reform agenda. Several recent analyses of what needs to change at FDA insist that guaranteed rapid access to provenance information is the key piece needed to make trace-back work. In September, the GAO recommended that FDA be allowed to access information more directly in emergencies, both to identify suspect foods and to ascertain whether other foods processed in the same facility also pose a threat.

And last May, the Food Safety Research Consortium, a group of researchers from seven institutions who are funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, called for a fully accessible "network of networks" across the food safety system. "There is no effective system for ensuring rapid government access to critical trace-back information," Michael Taylor, a research professor of health policy at George Washington University and the project's leader, testified in July.

TK: The story concludes with the thought that food safety reform may have to wait in line behind a host of economic issues that Obama must address. But that won't diminish the need, experts say, for a sleeker food safety system that can deal with multi-state foodborne illness outbreaks.

Tom Mathison- A legend remembered

Above: Tom in earlier days in a pear orchard



Above: Tom and West Mathison
The passing of Tom Mathison is a sad event for the produce industry because he still had so much passion for his company and fruit marketing. I had a chance to visit with Roger Pepperl, West Mathison and Desmond O'Rourke yesterday about Tom, and the themes of optimism, innovation, problem solving and relationship building came through in those conversations.

Lee Peters of Fowler Farms writes in an email today:

I can think of no other person in the apple industry that has made such a profound impact on all of his competitors other than Tom Mathison. He has been respected by all and will be greatly missed.

Feel free to add comments to this post or shoot me an email at tkarst@thepacker.com with your observations about Tom Mathison..

Irradiating leafy greens

Find the link here to a story about irradiating leafy greens included in one of Doug Powell's recent Food Safety Network updates. From the story:

“The problem the leafy green industry faces is there is absolutely no kill step in the process of cleaning, rinsing and bagging the product. There is nothing they can do,” explained Peter Schoch, Rayfresh’s CEO. The potential for widespread contamination is compounded by the mingling of greens from different sources in processing plants, he said.

Food irradiation – which does not in any way render food radioactive – today uses gamma rays from radioactive material or machine-generated electron beams, Schoch said, both of which tend to cause cellular damage and visually degrade food. X-rays promise a gentler, more scalable solution. Rayfresh recently landed its first contract to build an X-ray machine to treat ground beef for Omaha Steaks, which inspected the prototype at MSU. The university’s validation work was pivotal in winning that first order, Schoch said.

“We also have very significant interest from people who produce and use food service lettuce,” he added, a product connected to a recent E. coli illness outbreak in Michigan and other states.

TK: Apparently Rayfresh uses a technology that doesn't require as much irradiation energy as competing methods, meaning it may be more adaptable to use at food manufacturing plants rather than special secure facilities. We'll follow with interest...