Jan. 05--The Food and Drug Administration has proposed new food safety rules requiring
farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks
in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.
While they may be sweeping to other parts of the nation, the rules have
been standard operating practices for years for fresh fruit and vegetable
growers in the desert Southwest, including Yuma County and Southern
California.
In fact, farmers here have been pioneers in the development of food
safety practices for the production, harvest and processing of their lettuce
and other fresh vegetable crops, said Kurt Nolte, executive director of the
Yuma County Cooperative Extension.
Now those practices, spelled out in the California and Arizona Leafy
Greens Marketing agreements, serve as a model for the new federal rules that
will be applied to farmers nationwide, Nolte said.
"Arizona and California growers have been savvy about food safety for
years, even before the spinach E-coli outbreak in 2006," Nolte said. "They've
stepped up and been proactive."
The federal regulations are aimed at reducing the estimated 3,000 deaths
a year from foodborne illness. Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria
in cheese and salmonella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been
linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, according to
the Centers for Disease Control. The actual number of those sickened is likely
much higher.
The FDA's proposed rules would require farmers to take new precautions
against contamination, addressing what advocates refer to as the "four Ws" --
water, waste, workers and wildlife -- to include making sure workers' hands
are washed, irrigation water is clean and that animals stay out of fields.
Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to
show they are keeping their operations clean.
Nolte noted that farmers here already routinely check their irrigation
water to ensure it's free of contaminants, provide porta potties and
hand-washing stations in the fields and train workers in their importance,
erect fences to keep out both wildlife and domestic animals, use soundmakers
to scare off birds, avoid harvesting areas where animal waste has been found
and instruct workers in the sanitation of lettuce knives and other equipment
they use.
Therefore, he said, he doesn't think FDA's new rules will have a
significant impact on farmers in Yuma as they've adhered to the practices for
years. However, he added, he applauds the issuance of the U.S. guidelines to
protect public health as well as the industry that produces healthy foods.
The new rules come exactly two years to the day President Barack Obama's
signed food safety legislation passed by Congress, the Food Safety
Modernization Act of 2010.
The produce rule would mark the first time the FDA has had real authority
to regulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off protests from farmers,
the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain fruits and vegetables
that pose the greatest risk, like berries, melons, leafy greens and other
foods that are usually eaten raw. A farm that produces green beans that will
be canned and cooked, for example, would not be regulated.
Such flexibility, along with the growing realization that outbreaks are
bad for business, has brought the produce industry and much of the rest of the
food industry on board as Congress and the FDA have worked to make food safer.
Nolte agreed. "The ripple effect of food safety concerns has a
catastrophic effect on the industry," he said, adding that the spinach
industry is still recovering from the 2006 outbreak traced to that crop.
The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of the food safety
law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspections by the FDA and gave
the agency additional powers to shut down food facilities. In addition, the
law required stricter standards on imported foods. The agency said it will
soon propose other overdue rules to ensure that importers verify overseas food
is safe and to improve food safety audits overseas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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