Text by Text - the Ssfe FEAST

Here is a text to text breakdown from the SAFE Feast Act. From the office of Rep. Adam Putnam:


The Safe Food Enforcement, Assessment, Standards and Targeting Act of 2009 Section-by-Section
Title I – General Provisions
Short title: The Safe Food Enforcement, Assessment, Standards and Targeting Act of 2009 or “Safe FEAST Act”
Sec. 101. Inspection of Records During Food-Related Emergencies – Allows FDA expanded access to food facility records if the Secretary has a reasonable belief that a related article of food is adulterated and presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals. Also allows for access to records in situations where there is a reasonable probability that a food, or a related article of food, will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.

Sec. 102. Registration of Food Facilities – Expands current registration requirements for food facilities by requiring all food facilities and importers to register and renew registration biannually. Grants FDA authority to adjust food registration categories. Gives the Secretary authority to suspend facility registration if there is a reasonable probability that food from the facility will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.

Sec. 103. Mandatory Recall Authority – Gives FDA the authority to order food recalls when firms fail to voluntarily recall products ontheir own, and where the Secretary determines that food is adulterated or misbranded under 403(w) of the FDCA (contains undeclared allergens), and will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals. This authority shall only be delegated to the Commissioner of the FDA.

Sec. 104. Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Prevention Controls – Requires all domestic facilities to conduct a risk-based hazard analysis and have preventative controls in place to significantly minimize or prevent those identified hazards. Each owners or operator is required to maintain a written plan describing their hazard analysis and preventative controls. High risk facilities are required to submit plans to FDA’s CFSAN. CFSAN may offer guidance on plans efficacy. In addition, each owner or operator must maintain records to document the compliance with the plan. When an FDA inspector comes to a food facility, the owner or operator must make the written plan and records available to the inspector upon request. Failure to comply with this section would be a prohibited act under the FFDCA. The provision provides flexible compliance timeframes for small and very small businesses, and deems facilities in compliance with existing seafood, juice and low-acid canned foods regulations to be in compliance with this section.

Sec. 105. Performance Standards – Requires FDA, not less than every two years, to determine the most significant food-borne contaminants and, if appropriate, the FDA may issue science-based guidance documents, action levels, and regulations to prevent adulteration. Performance standards cannot be facility specific.

Sec. 106. Fresh Produce Standards – Gives FDA the authority to set commodity-specific standards for the safe production, harvesting and packaging of fruits and vegetables, including mandatory standards for produce considered to be high risk, as well as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPS) for all produce. Requires the Secretary to coordinate enforcement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agencies, and authorizes variances for local growing conditions.

Sec. 107. Targeting Inspection Resources – Requires FDA to allocate food inspection resources according to the risk profile of the facility and other important criteria. Directs the Secretary to increase the frequency of inspections at all facilities, including requiring the Secretary to inspect high-risk facilities, at a minimum, every two years. Requires the FDA to submit an annual report to Congress regarding the frequency of and costs associated with food facility and import inspections.
Sec. 108. Administrative Detention – Amends section 304(h) of the FFDCA to allow FDA to use administrative detention, an authority given FDA in 2002 but never used since then, when FDA has reason to believe that a food is adulterated or misbranded (the current standard for administrative detention of medical devices under section 304(g) of the FFDCA).
Sec. 109. National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy – Requires HHS and USDA, in coordination with DHS, to develop a National Agricultural and Food Defense Strategy and research agenda, including specific emergency preparedness, detection, response and recovery goals.
Sec. 110. Food and Agriculture Coordinating Councils – Requires a report to Congress on the activities of the DHS-led government and private sector coordinating councils for agriculture and food defense which are designed to improve information sharing between government and private sector partners in protecting the food system.
Sec. 111. Fees – Allows FDA to Assess fees for: compliance failures (recalls, reinspection) and services rendered such as issuance of export certificates, and participation in a voluntary qualifies importer program.

Title II – Detection, Surveillance, and Response
Sec. 201. Laboratory Accreditation – Directs FDA to review laboratory accrediting bodies and establish a publicly available registry of FDA-recognized accrediting bodies for the purpose of the accrediting food testing laboratories, including State and local-run and operated laboratories. Requires all laboratory testing done for FDA regulatory purposes to be conducted by either an FDA lab or a lab accredited by an FDArecognized accrediting body.
Sec. 202. Integrated Consortium of Laboratory Networks – Requires DHS to work with HHS, USDA and EPA to effectively integrate laboratory networks and other relevant data sources to optimize national preparedness by quickly sharing information, conducting analyses, and alerting responders.
Sec. 203. Building Domestic Food Safety Capacity – Requires a series of reports and actions intended to focus FDA’s attention on several challenges, including information technology, data sharing, research and government capacity.
Sec. 204. Enhancing Traceback and Recordkeeping - Requires the Secretary to establish a pilot project to test and evaluate new methods for rapidly and effectively tracking and tracing fruits and vegetables, and other raw commodities in the event of an emergency. Requires that the program develop methods that are appropriate for small businesses and technologies that enhance raceback and trace forward. Also requires the Secretary, after completion of the pilot project, to establish standards for the types of information, information format, timeframes for submission of food records to aid the Secretary in rapidly performing trace back activities in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak.
Sec. 205. Surveillance – Requires the Secretary to enhance food-borne illness surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on food-borne illnesses. Establishes a diverse working group of experts and stakeholders from Federal, State and local food safety and health agencies, the food industry, consumer organizations, and academia to provide
recommendations on an ongoing basis regarding the improvement to food-borne illness surveillance. Also requires the Secretary to develop and implement strategies to leverage and enhance the food safety and defense capacities of State and local agencies.
Title III – Specific Provisions for Imported Food
Sec. 301. Foreign Supplier Verification Program – Requires registered importers to perform food safety supplier verification activities to mitigate risks in imported foods, including sanitation, storage, handling, inspections, training, record keeping, etc. Importers required to comply with existing seafood, juice, and low-acid canned foods regulations are deemed to be in compliance with this section.

Sec. 302. Voluntary Qualified Importer Program – Allows importers to qualify for expedited review and import of food if they go above and beyond the minimum standards to ensure the safety of imported food.
Sec. 303. Certification of Certain Imports – Gives the Secretary the authority to require export certificates for high-risk foods from certifying entities in the exporting countries. Shipments lacking required certificates would be barred from entry.
Sec 304. Prior Notice of Imported Food Shipment – This proposal amends section 801(m) of the FFDCA to require a prior notice for an imported food to include the name of any country that refused entry of the food. The change would be effective without FDA amending its regulations.
Sec. 305. Review of Regulatory Authority of a Foreign Government The Secretary may review the statutes, regulations and standards and conduct onsite audits to verify compliance to determine if importing counties are can provide reasonable assurances that the food supply is equivalent in safety to that produced in the United States.
Sec. 306. Building Capacity of Foreign Governments – Requires FDA to develop a comprehensive plan to help expand the technical, scientific, and regulatory capacity of foreign governments and their respective food industries. Sec. 307. Inspection of Foreign Food Facilities – Authorizes Secretary to enter into agreements and arrangements with foreign governments to facilitate the inspection of foreign facilities. Refuses entry of food from a foreign facility or country that fails to permit inspection by the United States. Sec. 308. Accreditation of Qualified Third-Party Auditors – Directs FDA to establish an accreditation system by which qualified third parties and duly trained auditing agents may certify that food facilities are in compliance with U.S. food safety standards. Qualified third parties auditors can include foreign governments, states and foreign or other eligible third parties. FDA is required to establish adequate protections against conflicts of interest between facilities and certifying agents. Costs of the accreditation program will be paid by applicants.
Sec. 309 Funding for Food Safety – Such sums as are necessary to meet the requirements of this Act.
Sec 310. Jurisdiction: Authorities – Clarifies that amendments made by this bill do not change jurisdiction between the FDA and Dept. of Agriculture, and FDA retains its current food safety authority under the FFDCA and the Public Health Service Act.

Produce Performance - 2008

On the volume side of the retail produce ledger, there is a lot of red ink. That much is immediately evident when look at a summary of retail produce performance in 2008 . Steve Lutz of The Perishables Group provided a powerpoint slide that summarizes retail produce performance in 2008. Look for the slide at the bottom of the blog. Meanwhile, lLook for more coverage of retail produce sales in the upcoming issue of The Packer.

Here are just a few highlights>

All produce: dollar volume up 3.3%, volume down 3.6%, average price up 7.2%
Bananas dollar change up 16.5%, banana volume down 1.4%, average banana price up 18.2%
Potatoes up 12.8% in dollars, down 1.4% in volume and up 15.5% in average retail price
Berries up 9.8% in dollars, up 5% in volume and up 4.5% in average price
Avocados up 7.8% in dollars, down 1.8% in volume and up 9.7% in average retail price
Apples up 5.5% in dollars, down 6% in volume and average price up 12.2%


Developing....

Would you rather..... and other top headliines

Not produce related, but lately I've been watching the BBC/HBO series The Extras and bring to you these "would you rather" questions from the childish but endearing Maggie. Go to this link for the answer from Andy. You may see these top five would you rather questions from Maggie in coming Fresh Talk polls if I run out of produce fodder.

#1 - Would you rather have a bionic arm or a bionic leg?

#2 - Would you rather die of the cold of die of the heat?

#3 - Would you rather have your face and body but the brain of a chimpanzee or be a chimpanzee but have your human brain?

#4 - Would you rather wake up and find your teeth have fallen out or your hair has fallen out?

#5 - Would you rather be a penguin who's a bird but can't fly or a flying fish that's a fish that can fly a bit?

Late afternoon produce headlines today:

Coupon confidential Daily Gazette
And Dole bagged salads taste even better when I’m paying $1.59 for the privilege and less savvy consumers like Bill Buell are paying $3.59.

Bill in Senate revives debate over trade with Cuba NYT
The bill, which will come up for a vote by the Senate this week, includes provisions that would ease some travel and trade restrictions enacted under the Bush administration. The changes would effectively allow Americans with relatives in Cuba to visit more frequently and would no longer require cash in advance when agricultural goods are shipped to Cuba.

Running on empty The Washington Post
In its first six weeks in office, the administration has launched hugely expensive and ambitious programs, not only to spur employment and arrest a sickening slide in stocks, mortgages and profits, but to overhaul such complex and vital services as health care, education, and energy production and conservation.

Del Monte: Melons, fresh-cut present challenges Coverage from The Packer

Budget opens farm bill wounds The Hill

Sen. Ted Kennedy takes on the FDA QSR

Ports defend truck programs Contra Costa Times

11% of mortgages are troubled CNN Money
The percentage of borrowers at least one month behind in their mortgage payments - but not in foreclosure - rose to nearly 8% during the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the National Delinquency Report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).




Wal-Mart beats the gloom as sales rise ABC
While consumers may disagree on the quality of items offered by Wal-Mart compared to its competitors, a recent review by ABCNews.com found that when it came to low prices, Wal-Mart generally beat out archrival Target and regional grocery chain Stop & Shop on both name brand and generic goods.

FDA Food Safety Modernization Act - the press release

From the office of Sen. Dick Durbin:



WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) today introduced bipartisan legislation that will dramatically improve the way the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protects the safety of the nation’s food supply. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act will give the FDA new authorities, tools and resources to comprehensively reform the nation’s food safety systems. The bill is also cosponsored by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).

“Over the last year we’ve seen major recalls of peanut butter spiked with salmonella, spinach laced with e-coli and chili loaded with botulism,” Durbin said. “These are not isolated incidents and are the result of an outdated, under-funded and overwhelmed food safety system. Today’s bipartisan bill will improve the FDA’s ability to prevent food-borne illness outbreaks and ensure FDA responds quickly and effectively when outbreaks do occur.”

The legislation follows closely on the heels of one of the largest food recalls in the nation’s history. In January, the FDA announced the voluntary recall of Salmonella-tainted peanut products, after hundreds of people nationwide were sickened. To date, nine people have died and more than 650 people have been sickened – half of which are children – in more than forty states.

Today’s bill addresses head-on some of the issues surrounding the peanut product recall by increasing the frequency of inspections at all food facilities; giving the FDA expanded access to records and testing results, and allowing the FDA to recall dangerous food products in the event a company fails to recall a product at the FDA’s request.

Food safety experts note that had any of these provisions been in place, the scope of the recent Salmonella outbreak could have been drastically reduced and the FDA’s response time, dramatically improved.

Senator Gregg stated, “Americans spend more than $1 trillion on food each year—when families go to the local restaurant or to the grocery story, or when children go to school, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they will become ill from the food they eat. Recent outbreaks of food-borne illness and nationwide recalls of contaminated food from both domestic and foreign sources highlight the need for Congress to act to modernize and strengthen our nation’s food safety laws. I’m glad we are bringing this important issue to the forefront during the 111th Congress, and I look forward to working with our Senate colleagues on this bipartisan legislation to ensure the safety of our food and restore confidence in the quality of these products for American families.”

“Americans expect the food on our tables to be safe not cause sickness or even death. Recent outbreaks demonstrate, however, that contaminated foods are being spread nationwide, putting families at serious risk. By increasing resources and mandating higher standards for food safety, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 takes important steps to protect the nation’s food supply. This bipartisan legislation will improve our ability to prevent food safety problems and respond quickly when they occur,” Kennedy said.

“As Americans are taking stock of the family budget and trying to put food on the table, they should be certain that the food supply is safe. Congress must improve FDA and bring it into the 21st Century so that Americans can make safe and healthy food choices at grocery stores, markets, and restaurants,” Senator Burr said. “This bill gives FDA the tools that public health leaders say are necessary to protect our food supply from natural or deliberate contamination.”

“This legislation will help guard Americans against food-borne illness by providing the FDA with the tools necessary to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to food-borne illnesses,” said Dodd. “Ensuring the safety of our food supply must be a top priority and deserves our full and immediate attention. I am particularly pleased that this bill includes a bipartisan provision I authored to develop consistent federal guidelines for the management of food allergies in schools, protecting and perhaps saving the lives of millions of children with life-threatening food allergies.”

“This plan will help protect every American and help keep all of us healthy by improving and streamlining the FDA’s food safety efforts,” Alexander said. “Americans should be able to go to the grocery store and out to dinner without having to worry about the safety of the food they are eating. I’m also pleased this legislation addresses potentially fatal allergies among students by providing guidelines and grants that will make it easier for schools to prevent emergencies involving life-threatening allergic reactions and be as prepared as possible if one occurs. Parents shouldn’t have to risk their child’s safety in school and wonder whether their son or daughter could suffer a life-threatening allergic reaction at the lunch table.”

“The first responsibility of a government is to protect its citizens,” Klobuchar said. “Ensuring that Americans have safe food is a basic issue of public safety, health and consumer protection. Whenever contaminated food is allowed to reach consumers, public trust in the integrity of our food supply and the effectiveness of our government is undermined. This bill will help give us the tools and authority for better inspections and a more responsive recall system."

“Whether produced domestically or imported, Americans must be able to trust that the food sold in their grocery stores and restaurants is safe,” said Sen. Chambliss, Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “It is critical to ensure that the Food and Drug Administration has the tools it needs to properly monitor and inspect the food that is consumed in this country. This legislation affords regulators the authority they need to better identify vulnerabilities in our food supply while maintaining the high level of food safety most Americans enjoy and take for granted.”

The bipartisan bill focuses on four key areas where FDA’s authorities and resources need to be improved: food-borne illness prevention; food-borne illness detection and response; food defense capabilities; and overall resources. Specifically, the bill:

Improves Our Capacity to Prevent Food Safety Problems

* Hazard analysis and preventive controls: Requires all facilities to have in place preventive plans to address identified hazards and prevent adulteration, and gives FDA access to these plans and relevant documentation.

* Access to records: Expands FDA access to records in a food emergency.

* Third party labs and audits: Allows FDA to recognize laboratory accreditation bodies to ensure U.S. food testing labs meet high quality standards and requires food testing performed by these labs to be reported to FDA. Allows FDA to enable qualified 3rd parties to certify that foreign food facilities comply with U.S. food safety standards.

* Imports: Requires importers to verify the safety of foreign suppliers and imported food. Allows FDA to require certification for high-risk foods, and to deny entry to a food that lacks certification or that is from a foreign facility that has refused U.S. inspectors.

Improves Our Capacity to Detect and Respond to Food-borne Illness Outbreaks

* Inspection – Increases FDA inspections at all food facilities, including annual inspections of high-risk facilities and inspections of other facilities at least once every four years.

* Surveillance –- Enhances food-borne illness surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on food-borne illnesses.

* Traceability – Requires the Secretary of HHS to establish a pilot project to test and evaluate new methods for rapidly and effectively tracking/tracing fruits and vegetables in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak.

* Mandatory Recall – Gives FDA the authority to order a mandatory recall of a food product when a company fails to voluntarily recall the product upon FDA’s request.

* Suspension of Registration – Empowers FDA to suspend a food facility’s registration if there is a reasonable probability that food from the facility will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

Enhances U.S. Food Defense Capabilities – Directs FDA to help food companies protect their products from intentional contamination and calls for a national strategy to protect our food supply from terrorist threats and rapidly respond to food emergencies.

Increases FDA Resources – Increases funding for FDA’s food safety activities through increased appropriations and targeted fees for domestic and foreign facilities.

PBH adds videos

From PBH this morning:

Wilmington, Del. - Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) is pleased to announce the addition of 41 new videos to the Video Center of its Fruits & Veggies-More Matters® consumer website. The Video Center is filled with short informational videos featuring produce celebrity Michael Marks as he demonstrates how to check different fruits and vegetables for ripeness, outlines proper storage methods, presents healthy, fast recipe preparation, and offers many other fun and useful tidbits of produce information.

One of the newest videos takes consumers step by step through preparing a fresh persimmon, illustrating each stage in the process, creating a delicious and elegant sorbet dessert. Another shows a clever method for getting the tasty seeds out of a pomegranate using a bowl of water. Consumers can access the online Video Center directly at http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/video/VideoCenter.php.

The The 41 new videos highlight:

• Cranberries
• Grapefruits
• Pummelo
• Tangerines
• Mandarin Oranges
• Pears
• Persimmons
• Pomegranates
• Winter Squash

The new videos are receiving plenty of attention from consumers. The Video Center area of www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org has totaled up over 9,500 page views in February, up from just less than 8,000 page views in January.

"These new videos are a great addition to our Video Center, which is proving to be a popular destination for website visitors," said Elizabeth Pivonka, Ph.D., R.D., president and CEO of PBH. "The videos cover a wide variety of fruit and vegetable topics and are searchable by theme, meal, or keyword searches making finding the information you're looking for quick and easy."

The new Video Center was designed to attract more visitors to ensure the Fruits & Veggies-More Matters message reaches an even wider audience. To enhance their visibility, these videos will be regularly promoted on the website home page and in PBH's biweekly e-newsletter to consumer subscribers, Keeping Mom's Informed.

Launched in March 2007, www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org, the Fruits & Veggies-More Matters website is packed with information designed to help moms boost their families' fruit and vegetable consumption. New content and enhancements are continuously being added. Consumers can access the Video Center directly at http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/video/VideoCenter.php.

Some of these short informational videos are still available for sponsorship. Retailers, growers, shippers, processors, and commodity boards shouldn't miss this opportunity to showcase their wares to a targeted audience of interested consumers. For more information on sponsoring a Video Center segment, contact PBH Manager of Development Theresa Kaufmann via e-mail at tkaufmann@pbhfoundation.org.

Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable and other top stories

Sure, this is ground that has been plowed before. But can you resist a revisiting of the eternal question? This story, examines the lore of the tomato and the essential "fruit or vegetable" determination. From the Examiner.com:

And finally, legally, the tomato is a vegetable according to no less a body than the the US Supreme Court. In 1895, apparently lacking anything more significant to rule on, made the decision that the tomato was indeed a vegetable. Their logic was, that the tomato was typically served 'as part of the main course, rather than as dessert, the role typically occupied by fruits'.


Offer more school meals for free Reuters
More poor children should be allowed to eat for free at school and the government should pay higher reimbursement rates for school meals, a school food service group said at a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday. The School Nutrition Association also endorsed a proposal that any food or beverage sold at school, even from vending machines, must comply with U.S. nutrition standards



Russian Federation Agricultural Situation Economic Crisis Update USDA FAS
The global financial crisis has had a significant, negative impact on Russian agribusiness and agricultural production. Declining oil revenues and slumping confidence in the Russian economy have led to strong downward pressures on the ruble. In 2008 inflation was 13.8 percent and given the weakened ruble, inflation is likely to remain in double digits throughout the 2009. The global crisis spurred a liquidity crisis in the Russian financial markets as foreign investors left in mass and foreign banks dissolved Russian credit lines.

China's potato situation USDA FAS


Obama plans to limit farm subsidies meets opposition Agriculture Online

Santa Cruz residents debate Whole Foods store Central Coast