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  • From: Betsy <blevy AT rsocsun.tamu.edu>
  • To: market farming list <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: salad mix laws
  • Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 17:31:23 -0700


Hi everyone - I raised the issue of new legislation affecting local
farmers who grow salad mix, and interest was expressed. I asked a local
farmer for a run-down of the situation, I'm forwarding her response.

Betsy

> Cornell University (Proposal by Department of Food Science) is
> pushing the HACCP certification plan. (Hazard Analysis Critical
> Control Point). Basically their long-term goal is to certify all
> farms, and all produce packing houses. They will track the produce
> from the field to the time it leaves the farm, focusing on sanitation
> procedures/food safety knowledge.
>
> This would seem to be a wise thing to do, as no one wants people to
> get sick from eating produce. Their system would train farmers and
> farmworkers in "Good Agricultural Practices," and produce packing
> house employees in "Good Manufacturing Practices." These practices
> include good personal hygiene and health, use of toilets (!), proper
> hand washing, protection from skin lesions, proper cleaning and
> sanitation in packing houses.
>
> The only hitch they say is that farmers and farm workers are too
> stupid (my interpretation of their assessment) to understand and
> implement the measures they feel will make produce as safe (as ground
> meat?).
>
> Currently, Whole Foods nationwide is requiring all salad mix
> purveyors to be HACCP certified. According to what we have heard,
> the annual fee ranges from $1,000 to 3,000.
>
> Whole Foods' action was apparently sparked by the 20/20 John
> Stossel/James Avery interview. WFM pulled all salad mixes and any
> other "processed produce" (like bagged spinach) from their shelves
> the day before the Stossel/James Avery show.
>
> Of the millions of salad servings consumed in this country each year,
> only a few people are reported to get seriously sick. Contrasting
> that with the meat industry, the vegetable industry is very clean.
>
> Certified organic growers are not allowed to use raw manure in the
> fields. This is the main source of contamination, other than worker
> sanitation. Chemical growers can use all the raw manure they want
> without regulation. It appears that a certain percentage of raw
> manure can be prevalent in meat processing (as it is presumed that
> the meat will be cooked; of course some food poisoning may occur when
> produce is placed on a meat cutting board that has not been
> sanitized).
>
> Other than raw manure, there are many ways produce can become
> infected with deadly e.coli, as many people handle the product along
> the food conveying chain (including the grocery store and the
> consumer).
>
> As an aside there are many harmless e.coli strains; they are
> everywhere; only a few are deadly. Of course, care must be taken,
> but it seems that now the reactions are swinging toward hysteria,
> and/or the burgeoning of a new industry: the food safety
> certification of farms.
>
> Huge salad manufacturers will be able to absorb and pass along this
> certification cost, but it will eliminate the little guys (from the
> wholesale market). We're not that upset, yet, as most of our
> business is direct to the customer.
>




  • salad mix laws, Betsy, 05/17/2000

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