Food safety professionals in the dried fruit, nut and fresh fruit industries will be gathering in Monterey this June for DFA of California’s Safe Food Conference. This annual event finally returns after a six-year hiatus. Watch this video as Hillari Bynum from DFA of California shares more details about the conference with Matthew Malcolm on California Ag Network and what food safety professionals have long awaited.
With the recent announcement that almonds would be exempt from the Produce Safety Rule under FSMA, growers may think they got off the hook regarding extra trainings and documentation for food safety practices in the field, but watch this video with Tim Birmingham from the Almond Board of California who clarifies the recent change. Read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
We have goods news on the FSMA front. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated the regulatory process to put almonds on the “rarely consumed raw” list. After years of discussions with the Almond Alliance and the Almond Board of California as to why almonds should be on the “rarely consumed raw” list given the self-imposed pasteurization rule, FDA moved to make this a reality.
The California almond industry is a leader in food safety and through education and FDAs understanding on industry practices and requirements, we have worked together to prevent unnecessary regulation for our industry.
The Almond Alliance President Elaine Trevino said the FDA action, “This is significant for the California almond industry. The leadership at FDA has accepted the information and evidence that almonds are in fact rarely consumed raw. The industry went through an exhaustive process many years ago to get its pasteurization rule approved. We are pleased the FDA listened to the science and evidence that we presented and took the appropriate action in placing almonds on the rarely consumed raw list.”
In 2015, FDA created the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). FSMA consists of seven regulations and one of which applies to almond growers, the Produce Safety Rule. The “Produce Safety Rule,” provides standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables for human consumption. Since 2015, the Almond Alliance has been advocating on behalf of the California almond industry, explaining the pasteurization rule and why California almonds should be included on the “rarely consumed raw” list.
Trevino thanked the Almond Board of California for its work in providing scientific research in support of the FDA’s action to place almonds on the “rarely consumed raw” list, singling out Tim Birmingham Director of Quality Assurance and Industry Services for the Almond Board, for his work.
The Produce Safety Rule establishes science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables for human consumption. The rule does not apply to produce that is considered to be rarely consumed raw (RCR), grown for personal or on-farm consumption, or not a raw agricultural commodity. Commodities considered to be RCR are those that the FDA has determined are typically cooked before consumption. Almond Alliance will continue to educate and encourage safe food and growing practices.
About the Almond Alliance of California
The Almond Alliance of California (AAC) was formerly the Almond Hullers and Processors Association and is a trusted non-profit organization with a mission of advocating on behalf of the Almond industry in California. AAC actively advocates for the positions of almond growers, hullers, shellers, handers and processors, while educating the industry about upcoming and existing regulatory changes. Through workshops, newsletters, conferences and meetings, AAC serves as a clearing house of information that informs the almond industry and continues to position the industry as an agricultural leader in the state.
Davis, Calif., (February 23, 2018) – Hedgerows enhance wildlife abundance and diversity around farmland without contributing to food safety problems in field crops, according to a new study published by a team of University of California researchers. The UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and UC Davis study documented that field edge plantings around farms are generally too narrow relative to the surrounding landscape to be a source of rodents and foodborne pathogens.
“This study is particularly pertinent right now when FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is calling for farmers to co-manage wildlife and agriculture, instead of clear cutting wild habitat around their crops,” said co-author Rachael Long, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in the Sacramento Valley. “Our paper provides support for this ruling, showing that the presence of hedgerows does increase wildlife diversity, but does not increase wildlife intrusion into the fields and, more importantly, does not increase the prevalence of animals carrying foodborne pathogens.”
This is good news for hedgerows, rows of shrubs, trees, grasses and flowers that are planted on field edges. The plants bordering crop fields provide habitat and floral resources for beneficial insects, such as bees and natural enemies, that help with pollination and biocontrol of pests in adjacent crops. Hedgerows also help enhance biodiversity – especially for insect-eating birds – help reduce wind and soil erosion, and protect water quality.
The two-year study in Sacramento Valley walnut orchards and processing tomato fields was led by Long and Roger Baldwin, UC Cooperative Extension vertebrate pest control specialist at UC Davis, former graduate student Laurel Sellers, the Western Center for Food Safety at UC Davis’s Michele Jay-Russell, Xunde Lib and Edward R. Atwill, and Richard M. Engeman of USDA National Wildlife Research Center.
The study, titled “Impact of field-edge habitat on mammalian wildlife abundance, distribution, and vectored foodborne pathogens in adjacent crops,” was published in the February 2018 Crop Protection (Sellers et al. 2018).
Elsevier is providing 50 days of free access to this article. Anyone clicking on the following link before March 31, 2018, will be taken directly to the article on ScienceDirect. No signup or registration or fees are required. Simply click and read at https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1WXU~xPFYej~4.
Winter migratory birds like to eat the lovely red berries of toyon.
This journal article supports a growing body of literature suggesting that plantings along the edge of fields do not substantially attract wildlife species that intrude on fields and transfer foodborne pathogens. For example, in a 2015 study, UC Davis researchers found more food pathogens when wildlife habitat was reduced on farms. This may be attributed to the vegetation filtering pathogens, a better breakdown of pathogens in diverse environments, and that removing vegetation may not deter wildlife from entering farm fields.
Relative to the larger crop acreage, hedgerows and similar field-edge habitats are generally too linear and small to serve as a significant source of rodents to damage nearby crops. However, cottontail rabbits favor hedgerows, and can sometimes cause damage to adjacent seedling crops.
“Overall, we found risk of crop loss or contamination of foodborne pathogens in crops bordered by hedgerows wasn’t significant in our study in the Sacramento Valley, although potential damage could vary by the sta ge and type of crop and wildlife species present,” Long said. She will be presenting this work at the 28th Vertebrate Pest Control Conference, which will be held in Rohnert Park Feb. 26 to March 1.
Hedgerows, the plants bordering this field of processing tomatoes, provide habitat and floral resources for beneficial insects that help pollinate crops and provide natural control of pests.
