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http://westernfarmpress.com/vegetables/042307-leafy-greens/

Leafy greens agreement marks California food safety upgrade
Apr 23, 2007 10:27

While California agriculture just might have the nation’s most stringent
food production standards already in place, the industry recently ratcheted
its food quality controls up a notch with the April 1 implementation of the
voluntary leafy greens marketing agreement.

While the agreement is monumental and sets stricter guidelines (good
agricultural practices) for leafy greens production, its longevity by name
could be short-lived as agricultural groups set even further goals of
mandatory marketing orders at the state and federal levels. Even if
marketing orders are enacted, the existing marketing agreement rules could
remain in future orders.

The new marketing agreement was forged to ward off another shelf-clearing
food nightmare, like the spinach E. coli (O157:H7) outbreak late last
summer that killed several people, sickened hundreds more, and obliterated
spinach sales, costing the California industry an estimated $800 million.

Production of iceberg, green leaf, romaine, red leaf, butter leaf, and baby
leaf (lettuces), plus spinach, escarole, kale, endive, chard, spring mix,
cabbage, and arugula are included in the marketing agreement.

“This week marks the beginning of the fulfillment of a promise we made to
the nation in the wake of the food safety crisis that started with the E.
coli outbreak in spinach in September last year,” says Tom Nassif,
president and chief executive officer of Western Growers.

“We promised to declare war on foodborne illness at that time … Our
farmers and other professionals who grow and ship fresh produce have worked
diligently to respond to this crisis, with substantial and effective means
to combat E. coli and other threats to our food supply.”

The leafy greens agreement was the brainchild of Western Growers, whose
board of directors unanimously approved the concept last Oct. 30. Members
of the trade association grow, pack, and ship 90 percent of the fresh
fruits, nuts, and vegetables produced in California and Arizona.

Other groups quickly added support, including the Produce Marketing
Association, United Fresh Produce Association, the Grower Shipper
Association of Central California, the California Farm Bureau, and others.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) certified the
agreement on Feb. 7.

Guideline development

Industry experts from the University of California, Produce Marketing
Association, United Fresh Produce Association, California Department of
Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and others submitted marketing
agreement ideas for over three months.

“This agreement will make an excellent system even better,” says CDFA
Public Affairs Director Steve Lyle. “We think it’s a strong beginning,
and the agreement is potentially a solution to the concerns that developed
last fall. It has the potential to give folks more confidence.”

Agreement specifics

The voluntary marketing agreement requires handlers of leafy green
commodities to accept product only from farmers who follow specific food
safety procedures. The testing and mitigation of water, tool sanitation,
worker hygiene, and product washing are just a few areas.

Signatories (handlers) to the marketing agreement agree to purchase 100
percent of leafy greens from growers who follow a 50-page list of
production guidelines or metrics. While program enrollment was voluntary,
participation is mandatory for the signatories.

Fresh Express was the last major handler in the state to sign the marketing
agreement.

“The addition of Fresh Express to the list of handlers guarantees that
100 percent of the volume of spinach, lettuce, and other leafy green
commodities in California will be covered by the new enhanced food safety
procedures,” Western Growers said.

“We believe this agreement can serve as a model for the nation in our
quest to enhance the food safety standards in this country,” Nassif says.
“The events of last September were a watershed event for our industry. We
have learned from the past and are making every effort to enhance food
safety in our industry.”

In a Jan. 25 letter to CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura, United Fresh president
and CEO Thomas Stenzel said, “While we know growers, shippers,
processors, and handlers have always put food safety at the top of their
priorities, we believe the enhanced standards under the proposed marketing
agreement are a significant step forward not only for California but
nationally.”

Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc., a subsidiary of Dole Food Company, Inc., that
signed the marketing agreement, said good agricultural practices were
already in place in all its California growing operations. The company will
apply the California standards in all states where it grows leafy greens.

The agricultural industry’s united effort to quickly craft a
self-developed plan was two-fold: to quickly put in place a plan to help
further restore consumer confidence, and to beat regulatory and legislative
officials armed with potentially more stringent regulations.

CDFA enforcement/inspection

Enforcement and inspection of product per the agreement is the CDFA’s
responsibility.

According to the CDFA, handlers who are signatories to the agreement are
charged two cents per carton to operate the agreement, starting April 1;
this will generate an estimated first-year operating budget of about $4.6
million.

While most funds will pay for CDFA inspections and verifications, experts
told the marketing agreement’s board of directors’ technical
subcommittee that costs could range from $2 million to $5 million.

“We will have a role on the inspection/verification side, as this will be
a government-verified inspection program to make sure that people are
adhering to the guidelines,” Lyle said. “CDFA employees will conduct
the inspections.”

Twenty CDFA trained employees will conduct the inspections, with another 10
U.S. Department of Agriculture employees on standby if needed.

An official CDFA certification mark will be an industry seal, certifying
that the leafy green products were grown, packed, shipped, processed,
and/or handled following the best agricultural practices. Lyle said several
days before the April 1 launch that the CDFA seal was not yet available.

The next chapters

>From the beginning, the 20/20 vision of some agriculture industry leaders
was that marketing agreement was a first step to achieve immediate food
quality improvement standards. But the long-range vision has focused on the
development of a mandatory state marketing order, to be followed even later
by a federal marketing order.

“We’re aggressively pursuing state and federal orders,” says Western
Growers Vice President of Communications Tim Chelling. “The state order
could be initiated in a short time, perhaps a matter of months. Federal
action is much more complex, on a much larger scale, and takes much longer.
We are exploring how best to do that.”

Dole Fresh Vegetables President Eric Schwartz said, “Dole is in full
support of a uniform, national, leafy greens food safety standard that will
set mandatory and explicit guidelines in the produce industry.”

email: cblake@farmpress.com