The need for a food safety initiative falls under several different explanations. Foremost is the globalization of our food supply along with consumer demand for a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables all year round. Additional pressure for a high level of microbial food safety comes from the fresh cut industry, which offers an array of ready-to-eat, pre-cut salads, fruits (notably melons) and vegetables. Along with these consumer trends, changes in U.S. demographics also play a role. As the baby boomers get older, more people are elderly and may have compromised immune systems or chronic diseases. Consequently, more people are especially susceptible to food-borne illnesses.
With these consumer trends, unfortunately, has come a nationwide increase in produce-related food borne illnesses. The following figures come from Food Safety Begins on the Farm: A Grower's Guide, published by Cornell University as part of a national effort to develop Good Agricultural Practices (GAP's), jointly sponsored by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (this GAP task force includes representatives from the University of Florida and Georgia). Between 1970 and 1997 per capita consumption of fruits in the U.S. went up 24%, from 577 to 718 pounds. With this increase, however, the number of outbreaks of food related illnesses has steadily risen. Between 1996 and 2000, 113 outbreaks with 3,805 individual cases associated with produce were reported to the Food and Drug Administration.
In these outbreaks, bacterial human pathogens outnumbered other types of pathogens as the disease-causing agents. The most common of these bacterial pathogens are Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7, which accounted for over 75% of produce-related outbreaks between 1988 and 1998. These bacteria belong to groups that have both human and animal reservoirs, and are also associated with fecal contamination. These facts help explain why food safety experts place great emphasis on worker health, safety and hygiene and on the management of animals, manure and other biosolids in and around farms where fruits and vegetables are grown. In fact, a farm's management of toilet facilities, handwashing stations and the cleanliness of the water used for irrigating, spraying and processing the crop can pass or fail a food safety audit. For produce run through a packinghouse or hydro-cooler, the same issues can be even more important!
But there is important good news. The latest round of testing by the Food and Drug Administration shows that 98.4% of the samples are free of microbial contamination from eight commodities. Out of 687 samples, 11 tested positive for Salmonella and Shigella. A 1999 survey of imported produce showed 94% to be free of pathogens.
