Fruit and vegetable growers will have as long as six years to comply with a landmark FDA rule that, for the first time, sets food safety standards for produce farms. The Produce Safety Rule was issued at the same time as a rule that requires importers to verify that imported food meets U.S. standards and a rule establishing a program for accredited auditors to inspect foreign food facilities. Large farms that grow sprouts – “especially vulnerable to dangerous microbes” – would have one year to implement steps to prevent contamination, the shortest timeline for compliance, while very small businesses with less than $250,000 in average annual sales could have six years to satisfy rules for water quality, according to an FDA fact sheet.
Deputy FDA commissioner Michael Taylor said the new rules “will better protect consumers from food-borne illness and strengthen their confidence that modern preventive practices are in place, no matter where in the world the food is produced.” Some 52 percent of fresh fruit and 22 percent of fresh vegetables consumed by Americans are imported.
With release of the latest regulations, the FDA has issued five of the seven major rules required to carry out the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, which emphasizes prevention of the contamination of food. Two rules issued in September spelled out safety standards for food processing and storage. The new rules are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Nov. 27 and would take effect 60 days after they appear.
The Produce Marketing Association, a trade group, said the new FDA rules were “a beginning, which now requires understanding, planning, implementation and verification by businesses.” Like other groups, PMA said it had “concerns and questions about some of the specific implementation details” in the rules. The produce rule is 800 pages long.
The FDA would require routine testing, in most cases, of water used by produce farmers. Water used in washing produce or similar practices cannot contain detectable amounts or E. coli bacteria. The produce rule limits the amount of E. coli permitted in water used to grow produce.
Groups representing organic farmers and small farmers expressed relief that growers can use manure and mulch as fertilizer if they apply it three or four months before harvest, believed to be enough time to reduce the risk of food contamination. The FDA said it is conducting extensive research into the appropriate timespan. The Organic Trade Association and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition also welcomed FDA language that says growers are not required to destroy wildlife habitat or clear borders around fields. The OTA said such a requirement would have conflicted with the tenet of organic agriculture about maintaining biodiversity on the farm.