Posted October 22, 2013
Growers in the Pacific Northwest are concerned about
upcoming food safety regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act,
according to a Yakima Herald article available here.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working
to implement the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which calls for
broad upgrades to sanitation affecting everything from irrigation water to
birds. The FDA has drafted proposed
rules and is accepting public comment until November 15. FDA has also held meetings on the proposed
rules with growers, as a larger effort to hear concerns and explain the
implementation of the FSMA. A recent
blog post on the meetings is available here.
Tree-fruit growers are concerned about water purity
standards that would be roughly
equivalent to the federal government’s standard for clean recreation water. The proposed rules also define standards for
keeping animals and birds away from food.
Most tree-fruit and vegetable growers in the Northwest
already participate in market-driven food safety programs demanded by retailers,
said Dustin Cook, a carrot and alfalfa grower and president of the Pacific
Northwest Vegetable Association. An
example of market driven food safety standards of the Global G.A.P. (Good Agricultural
Practices).
Jones Farms, a diversified orchard and vegetable ranch,
signed on to Global G.A.P. about three years ago. Owner Dennis Johnson says the standards are “pretty
intense,” according to another Yakima Herald article available here.
The biggest complaint about the proposed rules is that
they are not crop-specific. Growers in
the Washington want the FDA to revise the proposed rules to be more
crop-specific and start the public comment period over again.
For more information on food safety, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
