FDA and USDA Renew Cooperative Efforts
10-23-2009
By Willie Bryant
In a continuum of cooperative efforts between the two agencies that spans many years, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint announcement in early October that the two agencies will be working together to develop new food safety rules for growing, processing and distributing fresh produce. The Secretaries of the two agencies have stated that this initiative is a result of President Obama’s commitment to innovative and aggressive efforts to strengthen protections against unsafe food and food borne illnesses local agriculture officials.
While FDA is discussing the potential impact of new regulations with the fresh produce industry, including small and organic farmers, representatives of the two agencies have begun jointly meeting with farmers and state and local agriculture officials to assess the impact of new regulations on fruit and produce growers and processors. The USDA has detailed Leanne Skelton, chief of the Fresh products Branch of USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service, to work with FDA for six months, where she will be tasked with developing new produce regulations.
In fact, produce comprised five of the top ten riskiest foods causing foodborne-illness outbreaks. While it is clear that the numerous recalls of fresh vegetables and fruits resulting from harmful microorganisms over the past several years has prompted this initiative, it is unclear at this time what additional growing, harvesting, processing and distribution controls might mean to the growers, processors, and distributors. The fruit and vegetable associations and their members will surely be providing input and sharing their best practice suggestions and concerns with the joint task force. In addition to having critical controls to prevent problems, it is also in the industry’s best interest to have a thorough recall plan in place that will facilitate expeditious removal and/or recovery of distributed products should the need arise.
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