Posted August 15, 2013
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials recently
met with farmers in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to listen to concerns about
upcoming water quality regulations required by the Food Safety Modernization
Act (FMSA). The meeting was part of a
larger effort by the FDA to reach out to growers, hear concerns, and explain
the implementation of the FSMA.
A Food Safety News article on FDA’s outreach efforts is available here. For detailed information on the Food Modernization Act, visit the National Agricultural Law Center website here. For information on a recent extension of the comment period for two proposed rules, a recent post on this blog is available here.
According to Capital
Press,
FDA officials visited farms, packing sheds and irrigations systems in these
states “to get a first-hand look at how their proposed produce safety rule
could impact farmers.” The proposed rule
applies to “any produce that could be consumed raw and affects agricultural
water that could come in contact with that produce” and includes limits on
bacteria levels. The rule would require
generic E. Coli “levels in irrigation water to be under 235 colony forming
units per 100 milliliters for any single sample” and would “also require five
consecutive samples to have a rolling geometric mean of under 126 units.”
According to the article, farmers voiced concerns that FDA’s proposed standards for
agricultural water quality “cannot be met and are impractical.” Some said that that most Idaho waterways
could not meet the proposed standard and argued that the proposed standard is
identical to the standard for recreational water.
Michael Taylor of FDA said that “the final rule will be
different from what the agency has proposed but he didn’t speculate on what the
changes would be.” Taylor “and other FDA
officials emphasized a provision in the rule that allows farmers to establish
alternative standards or practices than those proposed if they can provide
adequate scientific data or other information that shows they provide the same
level of public health protection.”
The Statesmen
Journal reports that Derek Godwin, Mid-Valley regional
administrator for the Oregon State University Extension service said many onion
growers are concerned that the levels for purifying irrigation water are too
rigid and will negatively affect their businesses. Godwin also stated that “FDA is making a
concerted effort to prevent food-safety problems instead of just reacting to
them.”
