Good Fruit Grower

March 1

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D eadline for public comments on the food safety proposals is May 16, 2013. To read or comment on the Produce Standards Rule, visit the Federal Register Web site at www .regulations.gov/?source=govdelivery#! docket Detail;D=FDA-2011-N-0921. For the Preventive Controls Rule for Food Facilities, visit: www.regula tions.gov/?source=govdelivery#!docket Detail;D=FDA-2011-N-0920. The Federal Register Web site also allows viewers to read all comments that have been submitted. Public comment deadline is May 16. ���The Food and Drug Administration is looking to hear from a lot of people,��� Schlect told Good Fruit Grower. ���The agency needs to be aware of how it will impact growers.��� Schlect also wants tree fruit growers to know that a host of organizations have been working on food safety issues on their behalf for some time and are developing comments on the proposed rules. In food safety matters, the Hort Council draws on the expertise of the Pacific Northwest Food Safety Committee, chaired by Warren Morgan of Double Diamond Fruit Company in Quincy, Washington. Tree fruit grower and packer representatives comprise the committee that is staffed by the Hort Council. To facilitate review of the rules and develop industry comments, the Food Safety Committee divided into four subcommittees: ��� Water/equipment ��� Tools and buildings ��� Animal intrusion/soil amendments ��� Health and hygiene More than 40 orchard and packing house representatives and researchers from Washington, Oregon, and the East Coast serve on the four subcommittees. The Food Safety Committee has a narrow focus as it reviews the regulations, Schlect says. ���We���re just interested in the areas that really make a difference for apples, pears, cherries, and stone fruits.��� Additionally, the tree fruit industry is well represented at the national level on food safety. The U.S. Apple Association has convened a food safety committee, chaired by Schlect. ���Through USApple, orchardists in Michigan, New York, Washington, and other states are working together so that we can present as united a front as we can to FDA,��� he said. United Fresh Produce Association and Produce Marketing Association are also actively formulating responses from the produce industry. The Northwest Hort Council���s Deborah Carter serves on United Fresh���s packer-shipper food safety committee. United Fresh���s Dr. David Gombas was recently appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, a committee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture���s Food Safety and Inspection Service. The committee provides recommendations to USDA and the health department on criteria for microorganisms that indicate whether foods have been adequately processed. ���The Northwest fruit industry���s role with the national produce groups is to bring in the grower perspective so that the www.goodfruit.com organizations��� positions are not harmful to growers,��� Schlect said. Trade groups like United Fresh and PMA include broad membership, from producers to shippers and marketers to retailers���interests that aren���t always perfectly aligned. The Hort Council is also developing alliances with the national citrus, table grape, and soft fruit industries in an effort to convince the federal government to reconsider its standards on commodities that have never had a food safety incident. ��� High Potency CYD-X�� HP The most potent codling moth virus...ever. CYD-X HP codling moth granulosis virus. Powerful. Versatile. Easy to use. OMRI�� Listed and NOP Approved. For conventional or organic farming. Residue exempt. Four-hour reentry interval (REI) and zero plant harvest interval (PHI). No effect on bene���cial insects. Devastating to codling moth larvae. ] [ �� 2013 Certis USA www.CertisUSA.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER MARCH 1, 2013 15

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