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FROM PERISHABLEPUNDIT 04.09.19
The Words That Can’t Be Spoken:
Who Is Buying Product Not In Compliance With Leafy Greens Metrics? Where Are The Industry Leaders Stepping Up To Solve This Problem? Tightening Water Metrics Is Great — But Not Enough. Eliminating The 1% From Commercial Trade Is A
Financial And Moral Obligation
JIM PREVOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
During the most recent Romaine food-safety-related outbreak, we authored a piece for The Wall Street Journal titled “Lettuce Try Not to Panic.” The point of the piece was two-fold: To explain that the risk is really infinitesimal, and to point out that the government, by issuing recommendations rather than disclosing the risk, is defining a purpose of govern- ment not in line with traditional notions of the liberty of free citizens.
What we were not doing in the article was claiming we had reached a state of perfection or that, as an industry, we shouldn’t strive to improve the system and thus reduce the risk of a food safety problem even further.
Recently, in evidence that the industry was working to find paths of improvement, the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) made an announcement that the organi- zation would be tightening certain metrics related to the use of surface water for overhead irrigation in response to the food safety issues of 2018:
Responding to issues of the past year, the leafy greens industry is continuing to address required water standards, particularly those related to use of surface waters. The LGMA is committed to strengthening its required food safety practices for all certi- fied LGMA members who produce 99% of the leafy greens produced in California.
For the past three months, the leafy greens industries in Cali- fornia and Arizona have been developing new water guidelines. An industry group facilitated by Western Growers has taken the lead in this effort, and there is broad agreement that using untreated surface waters for overhead irrigation during the final weeks of production presents an elevated risk. Changes to the LGMA’s required food safety practices (metrics) to reduce this risk are being developed with input from food safety scientists and several LGMA member companies.
The LGMA will make an announcement with specifics about the new metrics as soon as they are finalized and accepted by the LGMA Advisory Board. We are confident this can happen in the next four to six weeks.
Once accepted, the new metrics will be shared with the industry and they will become part of the mandatory government audits that are part of the LGMA food safety system. The LGMA will also begin an education and outreach effort to ensure all members of the leafy greens community understand how to comply with the new standards.
Taylor Farms announced it will not wait for the process to be formalized through the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and that, starting May 1, 2019, it only would source product from growers who mitigate risk by performing on-site treatment of water for organisms of concern before the water is used in overhead irrigation:
During the last year, the Romaine lettuce markets have been shut down two separate times by the federal government following epidemiological links of certain Romaine products to illnesses and deaths caused by E. coli pathogens. The tragic illnesses and persistent negative publicity surrounding these events has eroded confidence in the healthy products the leafy greens industry produces every day and draws attention away from the food safety advancements made by many members of the leafy greens industry. ...
Through this letter, Taylor Farms is committing to source product from Leafy Green Growers who take this additional step to treat water coming from and/or distributed through open sources prior to use in overhead irrigation. Starting May 1, 2019, Taylor Farms is committed to only source leafy green products which are grown in conformance with the heightened water standards mentioned above.
— Mark Borman, President, Taylor Farms, California
These are both very positive steps for the industry and real signs of leadership. But in reading the LGMA release, we couldn’t help but be drawn to the missing 1%. The release says: The LGMA is committed to strengthening its required food safety practices for all certified LGMA members who produce 99% of the leafy greens produced in California.
As we were reading this, we received a note from Eric Schwartz. Eric is now with Eckert Foods, but during the spinach crisis of 2006 he was president of Dole Fresh Vegetables. Since then, we’ve worked with him on many industry issues. Now, Eric read the same release we did and focused in on the same question we did:
The problem no one wants to talk about is that some major retailers and big box stores still buy products from leafy greens growers that are in the 1%.
The FDA named-source at the center of the most recent Romaine recall (and now alleged by FDA to have been the source of another recall a year earlier) was not a member of LGMA. Yet, the grower was still able to sell leafy greens into retail and terminal markets during a time when Romaine was short of supply.
16 / APRIL 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS