GLADES CROP CARE INC'

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GLADESCROP CAREINC.
presents
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Fresh ProduceFood Safety News You Can Use
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Water testing
Thornton Labs No longer doing analysis. Still
doing sampling, but sub their analysis to KNL
Labs 813-229-2879
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Sanitizers
All postharvest applications have been removed
from BioSafe Systems' Oxidate (hydrogen
peroxide), and are now under the StorOx
(peroxygen) label.  Oxidate will continue to be
marketed for foliar disease control applications
for fruit and vegetable crops."  Oxidate is no
longer a registered product for use in dump
tanks.
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Sanitizers

• Chlorine Dioxide
• Gas didnt work for field-pack tomatoes
• Liquid alternatives
• Agroxine
• Selectrocide

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Research
Salmonella was used to inoculate tomato plants
before and after fruits set, either by injecting
stems or brushing flowers with it. Results
suggest that Salmonella cells survive in or on
tomato fruits from the time of inoculation at
flowering through fruit ripening. Tomato stems
and flowers are possible sites at which
Salmonella may attach and remain viable during
fruit development, thus serving as routes or
reservoirs for contaminating ripened fruit.
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Research
We have demonstrated that lettuce grown in soil
containing contaminated manure, or irrigated with
contaminated water, results in contamination of
the edible portion of the lettuce
plant. Moreover, the results suggest that edible
portions of a plant can become contaminated
without direct exposure to a pathogen, but rather
through transport of the pathogen into the plant
by the root system.
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204 Cases 102 Hospitalizations 31 HUS cases 3
Deaths
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Regulations
Race between California leaf Florida
tomatoes and FDA produce
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Regulations
California - leaf
(October 25, 2006) - In a legal petition filed
with Governor Schwarzenegger and California
Department of Health Services, CSPI said that,
mandatory regulations governing manure, water
and sanitation on farms could help reduce the
number of produce-borne food outbreaks, such as
the recent outbreak of E. coli O157H7 traced to
California-farmed spinach.
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Regulations
California - leaf
(October 30, 2006) Western Growers to initiate
a California Marketing Agreement and a Marketing
Order that establish mandatory Good Agriculture
Practices (GAP) that strengthen spinach and leafy
green food safety procedures.
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Regulations
California - leaf
Under the new proposal, the California Department
of Food and Agriculture would enforce the
guidelines and give compliant growers a clean
bill of health. The state also would have the
authority to sanction growers who don't follow
food safety procedures by enjoining them from
shipping or selling their crops, assessing fines
or seeking criminal penalties.
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Regulations
California - leaf
"It is not normal for a business to say, 'Please
regulate us and enforce it if we don't do the
right things,'" Western Growers President Tom
Nassif said. "But that, we believe, is essential
to restore public confidence."
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Regulations
Florida - tomatoes
The Florida Tomato Exchange voted on September 7,
2006 to immediately implement the Tomato Good
Agricultural Practices (T-GAP) and Tomato Best
Management Practices (T-BMP) for the fresh tomato
industry in Florida with the exception of the
prohibition of field packing without a microbial
reduction treatment. The field packing
provision will be implemented in the fall of 2007
provided the legal language has been passed
enabling enforcement of the rules and regulations
by the Florida Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services.
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Regulations
Florida - tomatoes
The T-GAP and the T-BMP are to establish and
implement needed practices and procedures for
safe handling of tomatoes as a cooperative effort
between the regulatory oversight by the Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
(FDACS), the input of scientific research, and
the cooperation of the Florida tomato industry.
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Regulations
FDA - produce
(Email to FOODSAFE discussion group - December 3,
2006) The  FDC Act simply does not give the
Agency authority to regulate growing crops.  It
has done traceback of raw produce to the growing
fields to try to find out what happened to cause
a product to become adulterated.  It has
established voluntary Good Agricultural Practice
documents for produce growers. However, it
cannot legally go further.  Lettuce, corn, or
melons in a field are simply not food.  Seeds,
fencing,  fertilization and even pest control are
not FDA issues.  Once crops have been harvested
and are headed for further processing (washing,
culling, crating, etc.), then they aresubject to
oversight by the Agency.
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Regulations
FDA - produce
Now if this doesn't make scientific sense, you
need to blame the 1906 and subsequent
Congresses.  If it needs fixing, check with your
newly elected representatives.Thomas L.
SchwarzFood Safety Consultant (after 30 years in
FDA)
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Insurance
Wheaton, Illinois, Nov. 7, 2006--The American
Association of InsuranceServices (AAIS) is
filing a new "virus or bacteria" exclusion
designedto exclude losses that arise from
organisms that can cause disease.The exclusion
addresses contamination from any disease-causing
agent. Coverage is excluded for loss, cost, or
expense caused by, resulting from, or relating to
any virus, bacterium, or other microorganism that
causes or is capable of causing disease, illness,
or physical distress. Source
http//www.aaisonline.com/press/2006/Press110706.h
tml
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Politics
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Politics (2)
As of October 6, 2006, 199 persons in 26 states
have been infected with E. coli 0157H7 in an
outbreak traced back to fresh spinach. This
most recent outbreak is not an isolated
occurrence. The outbreak is the 20th outbreak of
E. coli in fresh produce since 1995, and the
second outbreak specifically linked to spinach.
Produce-related outbreaks have doubled from 44
outbreaks in 1998 to 86 in 2004. As this fact
sheet explains, the growing incidence of
contamination in fresh produce is a symptom of
weaknesses in the federal food safety system.
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Politics(3)

• Inadequate Enforcement and Regulatory Action
• FDA relies on vague and unenforceable standards
  to govern the production of fresh produce.
• Even where FDA has clear authority to act, the
  agency fails to enforce food safety requirements.
  
• The latest outbreak has not changed FDAs
  reliance on unenforceable voluntary guidelines.

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Bad News
Jamba Juice Warns Consumers of Contaminated
Strawberries Wednesday, December 06, 2006 SAN
FRANCISCO  Jamba Juice Co. is warning consumers
in the Southwest that smoothies containing
strawberries might have been contaminated with a
potentially deadly bacterium. The warning, issued
in consultation with the FDA, applies to
smoothies sold at Jamba Juice stores in Arizona,
southern Nevada and Southern California from Nov.
25 to Dec. 1 The company said it had not received
any reports of confirmed illnesses. San
Francisco-based Jamba Juice issued the warning
Tuesday after one of its suppliers Cleugh's
Frozen Foods of Salinas said frozen
strawberries from one of its facilities tested
positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The
bacterium can cause sometimes-fatal infections in
young children, the elderly and others with weak
immune systems, and miscarriages and stillbirths
among pregnant women. Healthy people may develop
fevers, headaches, nausea, diarrhea and other
symptoms. Jamba Juice said it halted all
shipments from that supplier and removed all
strawberries it provided.
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More Bad News
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, New Jersey (AP) -- Taco Bell
ordered the removal of green onions from its
5,800 restaurants nationwide Wednesday after
tests suggested they might be responsible for the
E. coli outbreak that sickened at least three
dozen people in three states. The fast-food
chain said preliminary testing by an independent
lab found three samples of green onions appeared
to have a harsh strain of the bacteria. Taco
Bell said that the tests are not conclusive but
that it immediately notified health authorities
and its restaurants while it awaits a final
analysis. "In an abundance of caution, we've
decided to pull all green onions from our
restaurants until we know conclusively whether
they are the cause of the E.coli outbreak," said
Greg Creed, president of Irvine, California-based
Taco Bell.
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Q A
Thank you for attending!