June 2019 - 4

EDITOR'S LETTER
Buyers on guard for safety
A new report by USDA's Economic Research
Service (ERS) offers a case study of the retail
sector's food safety requirements for its
produce suppliers before the Food Safety
Modernization' Act's (FSMA) Produce Rule
(PR). It finds retailers will likely continue
to demand third-party food safety audits,
although they are not required by the PR.
Food safety regulations have become a
flash point for the specialty crops industry. It's
a topic about which Vegetable Growers News
has dedicated extensive coverage - including
Associate Editor's Stephen Kloosterman's report
regarding On-Farm Readiness Reviews (see story, May 2019 VGN, Page 16), a
self-policing form of food safety awareness for growers.
Foodborne illness linked to contaminated produce is a public health
concern. FSMA, signed into law in 2011, is the federal government's most
recent effort to reduce the risk of microbial contamination that can cause
human illness.
The law's " Standards for Growing, Harvesting, Packing and Holding of
Produce for Human Consumption, " commonly known as the " Produce Rule, "
may pose a challenge for farms that grow produce and sell into retail markets.
While the PR is the first federal regulation focusing on microbial food
safety at the farm level, it is not the first effort to improve the safety of
produce. Commercial buyers (retailers, foodservice firms and produce
processors) have demanded certain food safety practices from growers
for years. Produce growers and grower organizations have also been
instrumental in raising food safety standards. Retailers play an increasingly
active role in food safety programs because they are often the final point of
contact for consumers before they eat the food.
Gary Pullano
Managing Editor
While the PR does not specifically call for retailers to do anything, retailers
have long required growers to have third-party food safety audits, which
have helped shape the food safety landscape.
Using information from interviews with nine diverse retailers prior to the
2018 implementation of the PR, the ERS report focuses on the role of retailers
in the development and implementation of food safety standards for produce.
The PR does not require third-party audits, although it does " recognize
the role that third-party audits can play in promoting food safety. " All nine
retailers interviewed require audits from their suppliers, although one does
not apply the requirement to its smallest suppliers.
The retailers expect to continue to require third-party food safety audits to
certify that growers conform to the PR.
Some findings:
* Three retailers interviewed require the same types of audits for all
their suppliers, large and small. Three retailers allow smaller suppliers
to use less demanding reviews. The remaining retailers obtain food
safety certifications from wholesalers, which often apply standards
uniformly. The PR does not apply to certain small growers.
* Interviewed retailers require audits for all produce and may require
more stringent audits for commodities they perceive to carry a greater
risk for foodborne illness outbreaks.
* Some of the retailers have lost suppliers in the past when new food
safety standards were introduced because of the increased cost of
compliance. They expect this may happen again, particularly for their
smaller suppliers.
* Retailers believe implementation of the PR will not drastically affect
their growers. Rather, they expect the PR to have its greatest impact
on produce growers outside these supply chains (direct-to-consumer
sellers, smaller retail suppliers and other less traditional sellers).
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P. 18
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EPA: No risk to public health for herbicide
glyphosate
" EPA continues to find that there are no
risks to public health when glyphosate is
used in accordance with its current label
and that glyphosate is not a carcinogen. "
Survey: California farms face continuing
employee shortages
A survey released April 30 shows 56%
of participating farmers had been
unable to hire all the employees they
needed at some point during the
previous five years.
Spotted lanternfly thwarted by two native
fungi
Two unrelated fungi, Batkoa major
and Beauveria bassiana, have been
decimating spotted lanternfly (Lycorma
delicatula) populations near Reading,
Pennsylvania.
Updated apple cropload management
models are available
Two important cropload models are
now available in new versions: the
Carbohydrate Model and the Predicting
Fruitset Model.
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June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2019
