transcript
- Slide 1
- 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 dzagory@nsf.org
530-219-7489