Who’s Minding the Store - The Current State of Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved Devon...
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Who’s Minding the Store - The Current State of Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved Devon Zagory, Ph.D. Senior Vice President Food Safety & Quality Programs NSF Davis Fresh University of Seattle School of Law April 11-12, 2008
Who’s Minding the Store - The Current State of Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved Devon Zagory, Ph.D. Senior Vice President Food Safety & Quality Programs
Whos Minding the Store - The Current State of Food Safety and
How It Can Be Improved Devon Zagory, Ph.D. Senior Vice President
Food Safety & Quality Programs NSF Davis Fresh University of
Seattle School of Law April 11-12, 2008
Slide 2
What Is The Problem With Produce? More outbreaks Bigger
outbreaks More media attention Less confidence on the part of
buyers and consumers
Slide 3
Why the increase? Increased consumption More raw, less cooked
Larger scale production, widespread distribution Increasing size of
outbreaks and ability to detect them Increase in public and
scientific awareness More severe illness Greatly improved
methodology More aggressive investigation
Slide 4
1998 2006 Produce Outbreaks 30% 17% 13% 11% 24% 5% Top 5
produce items make up 76% of outbreaks
Slide 5
Produce Outbreaks 1973-97 (190) 54% pathogens identified From
presentation to produce associations, January 2004, Lynch and
Tauxe, CDC
Slide 6
Slide 7
Routes of Contamination Beuchat, 1996 ANIMALS, BIRDS PRODUCE
HUMANS water feces insects sewage soil meat, milk, eggssilage,
feedplants (cross contamination) harvesting, handling, processing
environments
Slide 8
Washing Doesnt Eliminate Pathogens At best 1-3 log (1 to
1000-fold) reductions can be expected under commercial conditions
regardless of antimicrobial used Issues Complexity Stem scar area
Hydrophobic niches Internalization of pathogens
Slide 9
Tomatoes Washed with Chlorinated Water S. montevideo Log CFU/cm
2 0 1 2 3 4 5 060110210320 Chlorine (ppm) Zhuang et al, 1995
Slide 10
Good Agricultural Practices FDA, 1998 guidance document Guide
to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and
Vegetables Not a regulation - guidelines onlyNot a regulation -
guidelines only Focus on prevention of contamination and redundant
reductions Commodity-specific guidance increasingly available
Lettuce and Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Provides metrics for
key factorsProvides metrics for key factors
Slide 11
Commodity Specific Guidelines Melons Sprouts Lettuce and Leafy
Greens Tomatoes Strawberries Fresh-cut Food Safety Guidelines
Slide 12
California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Initiated by
Western Growers Assoc. Signatories are handlers, not growers Nearly
100% of CA handlers have voluntarily signed Once signed, terms are
obligatory Must buy only from suppliers meeting the terms Metrics
were developed by a committee of experts Suppliers and handlers are
audited by the CA Dept. of Food and Agriculture
Slide 13
Lots of Audits! Internal self-audits Customer audits Third
party audits Regulatory audits USDA AMS CA Dept. Food and Ag.
Organic audits Sustainability audits
Slide 14
Micro Testing Testing of irrigation water for generic E. coli
required by CA LGMA Environmental testing in facilities validates
cleaning and sanitation Product testing required by many buyers Raw
product testing Finished product testing
Slide 15
Is Testing Product Effective? Negative Tests Dont Prove
AbsenceNegative Tests Dont Prove Absence What will you test
for?What will you test for? Coliforms (Inaccurate Indicators)
Viruses Pathogens No Government StandardsNo Government Standards
Quality Assurance & SanitationQuality Assurance &
Sanitation Validate HACCP SystemValidate HACCP System
Slide 16
Is testing product effective?
Slide 17
Lawyers and Risk Aversion Large buyers are driving food safety
requirements and programs Judgments can be very large in food borne
illness cases Damage to brand identity can be even greater
Prominent retailers and food service companies are very risk averse
about food safety In the absence of scientific data about risks,
buyers are asking their suppliers to eliminate anything that COULD
present a risk This sometimes leads to wasted resources, and
environmental costs
Slide 18
Where is the FDA? Historically FDA has been little involved
with fresh produce FDA is reluctant to issue regulations Produce is
extremely diverse There is a lack of knowledge and data What should
the regulations be? What steps would insure safety? There are lots
of unknowns There is a lack of resources
Slide 19
How Can We Fix It? More and better data Level the playing field
- Regulation Make the producer/handler responsible for the process,
not just the result Base actions on analysis of hazards Improve
knowledge of food safety throughout the system Reduce regulatory
ambiguity
Slide 20
QUESTIONS? Devon Zagory, Ph.D. Senior Vice President Food
Safety & Quality Programs NSF Davis Fresh [email protected]
530-219-7489