Sludge Watch ==> FDA issues final guidance for safe production of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables

[Maureen Reilly]

FDA issues final guidance for safe production of fresh-cut fruits and 
vegetables
12.mar.07
U.S. FDA Press Release


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today published a draft final 
guidance advising processors of fresh-cut produce how to minimize microbial 
food safety hazards common to the processing of most fresh-cut fruits and 
vegetables, which are often sold to consumers in a ready-to-eat form.
The document -- “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of 
Fresh-cut Fruits and Vegetables” -- suggests that fresh-cut processors 
consider a state-of-the-art food safety program such as the Hazard Analysis 
and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, which is designed to prevent, 
eliminate, or reduce to acceptable levels the microbial, chemical, and 
physical hazards associated with food production.

The guidance complements FDA’s regulations of manufacturing practices and 
incorporates comments received in response to its draft issued in March 
2006. The current version will not be final until the White House Office of 
Management and Budget completes an authorization step required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, and the agency announces that the guidance is 
final.
"Ensuring the safety of the American food supply is one of this Agency's top 
priorities," said Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, Commissioner of Food and 
Drugs. " Americans are eating more fresh-cut produce, which we encourage as 
part of a healthy diet. But fresh cut-produce is one area in which we see 
foodborne illness occur. Offering clearer guidance to industry should aid in 
the reduction of health hazards that may be introduced or increased during 
the fresh-cut produce production process.”

Dr. von Eschenbach will testify before a hearing by the Agriculture, Rural 
Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on 
Appropriations, which will address the processes in place and improvements 
being made regarding food safety, specifically the safety of fresh produce 
and vegetables. The hearing will take place in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 
12, 2007.
Processing produce into fresh-cut product increases the risk of bacterial 
contamination and growth by breaking the natural exterior barrier of the 
produce by peeling, slicing, coring, or trimming the produce with or without 
washing or other treatment before the produce is packaged for consumers. 
Examples of fresh-cut products are shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, salad 
mixes (raw vegetable salads), peeled baby carrots, broccoli florets, 
cauliflower florets, cut celery stalks, shredded cabbage, cut melons, sliced 
pineapple, and sectioned grapefruit.

Consumers can reduce their risk of illness from fresh-cut produce by 
following safe handling practices such as refrigerating the product after 
purchase; using only clean hands, utensils or dishes in preparing the 
product; and discarding the product when the "use by" date has expired.
The Guide complements FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations 
for food (21 CFR 110) and provides a framework for identifying and 
implementing appropriate measures to minimize the risk of microbial 
contamination during the processing of fresh-cut produce. Specifically, it 
discusses the production and harvesting of fresh produce and provides 
recommendations for fresh-cut processing in the following areas: (1) 
personnel health and hygiene, (2) training, (3) building and equipment, (4) 
sanitation operations, and (5) fresh-cut produce production and processing 
controls from product specification to packaging, storage and transport. The 
Guide also provides recommendations on recordkeeping and on recalls and 
tracebacks.

The Guide also recommends that processors encourage the adoption of safe 
practices by their partners throughout the supply chain, including produce 
growers, packers, distributors, transporters, importers, exporters, 
retailers, food service operators, and consumers. These practices include:
Establishing a company policy that employees report any active case of 
illness to supervisors before beginning work and training;\

Training supervisors to recognize typical signs/symptoms of infectious 
disease; maintain the proper first aid to protect and cover any wound; and 
not allow an employee to work with any aspect of fresh or fresh-cut produce, 
processing equipment or tools until the wound has healed and/or the 
infectious disease has been treated.

FDA believes awareness of the common risk factors discussed in this guidance 
and implementation of preventive controls determined by a firm to be 
appropriate to its individual operations will enhance the safety of 
fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. More information on safe handling practices 
of produce can be found at http://www.fightbac.org/


Written comments on the Guide are acceptable at any time and should be sent 
to FDA’s Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Comments on the 
Guide-specific to issues involving the Paperwork Reduction Act should be 
faxed within 30 days of the publishing date of the Federal Register notice 
to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attn: FDA Desk 
Officer, FAX: 202-395-6974.

The Guide is accessible on the FDA Website at: 
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/guidance.html
Additional Information about the Guidance:
Fact Sheet: "Fresh-Cut Fruits and Vegetables Draft Final Guidance"
Federal Register Notice (Pre-Publication Display) [PDF, 600 KB]
Relevant Food Safety Information:
"How the FDA Works to Keep Produce Safe"
www.foodsafety.gov
Alert: Food Defense Awareness Program




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Food-safety oversight needs unbiased eyes
12.mar.07
Salinas Californian

Elisa Odabashian

http://www.californianonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/OPINION/703120331/1014

Elisa Odabashian, the West Coast director of Consumers Union, the nonprofit 
publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, writes that last fall's deadly 
incident of E. coli contamination in spinach is part of a longer history of 
contaminated leafy green products in California. According to the U.S. Food 
and Drug Administration, there have been 20 incidents in the past 10 years 
of state leafy greens contaminated with disease-causing organisms.

Over the past six months, the leafy green industry has lost $100 million due 
to plummeting consumer confidence in its products in the wake of 
E.coli-tainted spinach that sickened 200 and killed five across 26 states.

Odabashian says that if there were ever a time for our government to do 
everything in its power to be transparent and objective in its development 
of industry's safety standards, to be rigorous and thorough in its 
inspection of products before they get to market, and to be tough in its 
enforcement of standards to ensure the safety of the food supply and rebuild 
the trust of consumers, it is now. But a marketing agreement developed by 
the people who brought us spinach contaminated with E. coli(O157:H7) is not 
the way to restore consumer confidence or to ensure that another terrible 
outbreak does not occur.
There are three serious drawbacks to the California Department of Food and 
Agriculture's marketing agreement:
# The CDFA is allowing the industry to create its own best practices 
standards behind closed doors without public input.
# Since industry participation is voluntary, the marketing agreement does 
not cover all leafy green growers and processors. Consumers cannot, 
therefore, be assured that all leafy greens that reach the marketplace will 
be as safe as possible.

# We are concerned about the marketing agreement's use of a certification 
mark to convey to consumers that leafy green products from participating 
farms and processors are subject to best practices. This approach turns 
safety into value added in the marketplace. The safety of the food we buy is 
fundamental to consumers, and government must ensure it. Food safety should 
not be something consumers must search out and possibly pay extra for. If 
romaine lettuce, for example, is implicated in a future E. coli incident, 
many consumers will not bother to ask whether the produce has the 
certification mark. They will simply stop buying all leafy greens. And when 
the next incident of E. coli in leafy greens occurs, the certification mark 
on all those bags of lettuce and spinach and arugula will be rendered 
meaningless

Odabashian concludes that the needed approach to contamination in leafy 
greens is for a state agency that does not have as part of its charge the 
promotion of the leafy green industry - such as the Department of Health 
Services - to be given the mandate to enforce GAPs on farms and HACCP 
programs for processing facilities through rigorous inspections and 
enforcement of standards that have been developed through a transparent, 
inclusive process. If this approach requires additional authority, budget 
and staff to do so, the Legislature should provide it.