United, food groups to Congress: "Quickly enact food safety reforms"

What the food industry wants from food safety reform is coming into tighter focus. This letter was sent yesterday by United Fresh, the NRA, FMI, GMA and others. No signature on this letter from PMA, FFVA or Western Growers on this letter, however. Open question -why not?


January 22, 2009
The Honorable Henry Waxman
The Honorable Joe Barton
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC, 20515
Dear Chairman Waxman and Ranking Member Barton:
Our organizations urge you to quickly enact food safety reforms. Americans continue to enjoy the
safest food supplies in the world but rising food imports and changing consumer preferences pose new challenges that require Congress and the Administration to modernize our food safety net.
In particular, we urge you to:
• Require Food Safety Plans. Congress should require every food company manufacturing food for the US market to conduct an evaluation of food safety risks that identifies potential sources of
contamination, identifies appropriate food safety controls, and documents those controls in a food safety plan available for FDA review.
• Require Foreign Supplier Safety Plans and Build Foreign Capacity. Congress should build the
capacity of foreign governments to regulate food safety and to require every food importer to
police their foreign suppliers. In particular, Congress should require that food importers document the food safety measures and controls being implemented by their foreign suppliers, and to requirefood importers to make a foreign supplier food safety plan available for FDA review.
• Ensure the Safety of Fruits and Vegetables. Congress should give FDA the power to establish safety standards for certain fruits and vegetables – when risk and science demonstrate that standards are needed. FDA should be permitted to work with states and others to tailor standards to meet local growing conditions and to ensure that standards are being met.
• Adopt a Risk-Based Approach to Inspections. Congress should increase food safety inspection
and should focus domestic and foreign inspections on facilities that pose the greatest risk of
contamination that could result in foodborne illness or injury.
• Authorize Mandatory Recalls. Congress should give FDA the authority to order a mandatory recall when a company has refused to conduct a voluntary recall and there is a significant risk to public health. Specifically, where the responsible party refuses to voluntarily recall a product for which there is a reasonable probability that the food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death, the Secretary should be permitted to order the company to conduct a recall. Our organizations support efforts to continually improve the safety of America’s food supplies andurge Congress to continue to make the prevention of contamination the foundation of our nation’s food safety strategies. We urge Congress to quickly enact food safety reforms that w ill give FDA newpowers to reduce the risk of food-borne illness.


Sincerely,
American Frozen Food Institute
Food Marketing Institute
Grocery Manufacturers Association
International Bottled Water Association
International Dairy Foods Association
National Fisheries Institute
National Restaurant Association
Retail Industry Leaders Association
Snack Food Association
United Fresh

John Block: think about the small farmer and blame it on the sand hill cranes

John Block was Agriculture Secretary during the Reagan Administration and now he is an agriculture advisor to the McCain campaign. He represented McCain during a presidential "debate" at the WPPC, and at one point during the exchange with Obama's surrogate cast a skeptical eye toward food safety regulation. Here is a blog post by Block forwarded by Doug Powell of the Food Safety Network relating to food safety regulation that captures his uncommon old school take on the issue:

For a long time, we have been hearing the screams of anguish from consumer organizations and politicians (especially the politicians) demanding that the government fix the food safety problem.I am here to say, yes, we can do a better job, and we should. However, to fix the problem will not be easy or cheap, and there will be some casualties.It is worth taking a look at a produce terminal market. I have visited these markets. Small growers and large growers deliver their produce in pick-up trucks. Tons of produce is sold every day. Move it fast while it’s fresh before it spoils. Some produce markets are huge – acres and acres in size with all levels of produce on display – peppers, mangoes, lettuce, spinach, watermelons, tomatoes, and more. Sometimes, product from different growers can be co-mingled. Produce from different countries is co-mingled. Distributors are selling. Buyers are buying. Some times on credit; sometimes with cash. Some buyers require records for traceability. Others don’t. They don’t have time. It costs too much money to handle all that paperwork. It is a madhouse.Improving traceability is going to cost the consumer. It won’t be free. I said there will be some casualties. Small producers may not be able to compete. Already, some distributors are buying direct from big produce farms, leaving the small pick-up truck suppliers out in the cold.Think about the small farmer markets that we’re familiar with. How much paperwork will they put up with? I was in my local supermarket last week. They featured tomatoes, melons, peaches, and other produce “locally grown.” Can all this be traced? Maybe.The fact is we have the safest food supply in the world. We need to do a better job of improving traceability. The salmonella tomato problem this summer cost tomato growers millions and they now believe the problem wasn’t even a tomato but a pepper.Our food safety system is not perfect. In fact, it never will be. Let me ask, do you get up in the morning worrying that you won’t be able to find any safe food to eat? I didn’t think so.Until next week, I am John Block from Washington

Blame it on the birds. Doug Powell of the Food Safety Network also passes on this link about sand hill cranes implicated in a foodborne outbreak in Alaska. From the story:


Apparently the migratory birds love the peas in Mat-Valley Peas' fields. And what geese can do to a sidewalk, cranes do to a field.
"The farmer thinks that's the likely scenario," McLaughlin said. "He has another field with cattle nearby, but it's highly plausible that the cranes' poop is the cause."
The 18 people were sickened by a campylobacter infection, according to a press release from the state and Municipality of Anchorage on Thursday. The illness' symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, weakness, fever, nausea and vomiting. One person was hospitalized, the release said.

Mexico's next move

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group posts this story from Mexico about what Sinaloa tomato producers in Mexico are considering in view of the "commercial problem" in the U.S. market. It certainly sounds as if new, mandatory self-imposed quality/food safety regulations are coming in Mexico. What follows are are a few graphs from the post, representing another example of the value of the discussion group and the valuable work of some of its most faithful contributors. To read the full post, sign up with the discussion group:

New Tomato Regulations Proposed
Claudia Beltrán 14-06-2008
http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=384790&id_seccion=10

The Mexican authorities must take advantage of the commercial problem that is being experienced with tomatoes in the United States to formulate regulation that requires all producers to comply with minimum quality rules for tomatoes and the rest of the vegetables.

Sergio Esquer Peiro, grower and president of the Council for the Economic Development of the State of Sinaloa, emphasized that it is important for Mexican agricultural authorities to formulate tomato specific norms to regulate the food safety parameters of this product.
It is urgent, he declared, to elaborate these norms and to make very clear that nobody is being discriminated. However, any packer that handles a certain amount of production or works certain acreage must comply with these safety rules.

NRA's intent

Donna Garren and the NRA have come out with a statement today about produce safety guidelines:


"The National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation were pleased to host a farm-to-table produce safety conference in Monterey, California. Over 175 restaurant and produce industry professionals attended the two-day conference.
"The conference was a positive step for all companies involved in the farm-to-table continuum to develop and implement enhanced effective produce safety management programs.
"In the short term, the Association will support the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) metrics developed by the produce industry, and will support the California Produce Marketing Agreement. It is important to emphasize that our support and call for enhanced produce safety is broad and not limited to leafy greens or produce solely from California.
"In the long term, we will rapidly move forward to further define and assure implementation of scientifically sound food safety management practices along the produce supply chain.
"We commend the National Restaurant Association for leading the efforts to actively engage restaurants, produce organizations and their members to support a collaborative, comprehensive set of produce safety recommendations," said Dr. Jim Gorny, senior vice president of food safety and technology with United Fresh Produce Association.
"Food safety is a shared responsibility," said Garren. "The Association will continue to work with our partners in the produce industry to instill consumer confidence in produce items served in our nation’s restaurants."


TK: I have a call in to Donna about what this might mean.. Her statement that "In the long term, we will rapidly move forward to further define and assure implementation of scientifically sound food safety management practices along the produce supply chain" is vague enough but also seems to promise tougher standards in the future.