Will The Potato Industry Receive An FSMA Exemption?
By Sam Lewis
New commodity-specific guidelines suggest potatoes are a low-risk food
A new commodity-specific food-safety guide was released by the National Potato Council (NPC) on Friday, Nov 8 during an industry webinar. The council’s president says the guide, if followed properly, will help keep the potato industry’s food-safety record in tip-top shape.
Before work began on the new guide, the potato industry commissioned a risk assessment on humans who consumed contaminated potatoes. The findings indicated humans face very low risks to their health from microbial and chemical pathogens. The new guidelines are segmented into four categories: General Practices, Production and Harvest Operations, Storage Unit Operations, and Packinghouse Unit Operations. All sections detail the best practices to tackle food-safety problems linked to each segment, with the intention to sync all food-safety programs in their assessment and problem solving of food-safety issues in the growing, packing, and storing of potatoes.
The webinar also addressed upcoming Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) guidelines. John Keeling, VP and CEO of the NPC, says even though the commenting period deadline is fast approaching, it may take the FDA several times through to get the rules right, suggesting that the legislature is far from being finalized. Despite the lengthy process, Keeling is happy with the FSMA guidelines as far as the potato industry is concerned. Potatoes are rarely consumed raw, making them a low-risk food which should be exempt from FSMA guidelines. However, officials with United Fresh Produce Association do not agree with Keeling’s view of the potato industry. Dan Vache, VP of supply chain management with United Fresh, says FSMA rules should be applied across the produce supply chain. “When you talk to food safety professionals, any time you say your commodity is a ‘low risk,’ and ‘I’ve never had a problem in commerce,’ the food safety professionals will say, ‘not yet,’” says Vache. “There’s a risk in everything.”
Read how FSMA is giving the food industry some teeth
While the new guide provides insight and know-how in the potato industry, the document is not an audit list. A coordinator of the guide, Dr. Susan Leaman, VP for Interox Decision Sciences, explains that the document was not designed to identify and fix all potential hazards, and not in every practice of the potato industry. Not included in the guide are best practices in processing, distribution centers, and retail/food-service stores. It’s hard to find a flaw in United Fresh’s and Leaman’s assessment of the guide. The goal of FSMA is to update and make all aspects of the food supply chain safer. If potatoes receive an exemption, it really is only a matter of time before a safety issue arises, leaving antiquated practices to identify and solve the potential crisis.
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