FDA Delays Compliance Dates for Agricultural Water as Part of FSMA Produce Safety Rule

The FDA announced that it is planning to extend the deadline for compliance to agricultural water standards used in irrigation as part of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule .  Irrigation water can be a source of pathogens, but it is not an easy to control, especially when that water comes from surface waters.  Work done here at Penn State by Luke LaBorde etal (ref below) found that it was hard to make a connection between water standards and pathogen levels.  So testing water to see if it meets standards that may not mean much in terms of the pathogens present.  It is easy to see how environmental factors will constantly change...whether that be the occasional presence of animals, the amount of rainfall, the amount of sunshine, etc.

For more information on irrigation water, visit the Penn State Extension Website -http://extension.psu.edu/food/safety/farm/gaps/safe-uses-of-agricultural-water

Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Updates
FDA Intends to Extend Compliance Dates for Agricultural Water Standards

Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is exploring ways to simplify the agricultural water standards established by the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) produce safety rule (PSR) after receiving feedback from stakeholders that some of the requirements are too complex to understand and implement.
FDA is now announcing its intention to extend the compliance dates for agricultural water requirements in the PSR (other than for sprouts). The FDA intends to extend the compliance dates using appropriate procedures at a later time and the length of the extension is under consideration.

The FDA intends to use the extended time period to work with stakeholders as it considers the best approach to address their concerns while still protecting public health. The extended compliance dates will also give farms an opportunity to continue to review their practices, processes and procedures related to agricultural water and how it is used on their farms.

Agricultural water can be a major conduit of pathogens that can contaminate produce, which is why FSMA’s produce safety rule sets microbial quality standards for agricultural water, including irrigation water that comes into contact with produce. FDA remains committed to protecting public health while implementing rules that are workable across the diversity of the food industry.

For more information on FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act, visit http://www.fda.gov/fsma.


FDA Website

https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm546089.htm
FDA Considering Simplifying Agricultural Water Standards

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is exploring ways to simplify the microbial quality and testing requirements for agricultural water established by the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA’s) produce safety rule while still protecting public health.

Agricultural water can be a major conduit of pathogens that can contaminate produce. That is why FSMA’s produce safety rule sets microbial quality standards for agricultural water, including irrigation water that comes into contact with produce.

However, the feedback that the FDA has received is that some of these standards, which include numerical criteria for pre-harvest microbial water quality, may be too complex to understand, translate, and implement. These factors can be important to achieving high rates of compliance.

In response to these concerns, the FDA is considering how it might simplify the water standards. FDA intends to work with stakeholders as these efforts related to the water standards proceed.

It is important that as FDA implements FSMA, the agency strikes an appropriate regulatory balance and decreases regulatory burdens whenever appropriate. FDA remains committed to protecting public health while implementing rules that are workable across the diversity of the food industry.

Microbial Survey of Pennsylvania Surface Water Used for Irrigating Produce Crops
AUDREY D. DRAPER,1 STEPHANIE DOORES,1 HASSAN GOURAMA,2 and LUKE F. LaBORDE1*
1Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802  2Division of Science, The Pennsylvania State University–Berks Campus, Reading, Pennsylvania 19610, USA

*Author for correspondence. Tel: 814-863-2298; Fax: 814-863-6132; E-mail: lfl5@psu.edu.

ABSTRACT

Recent produce-associated foodborne illness outbreaks have been attributed to contaminated irrigation water. This study examined microbial levels in Pennsylvania surface waters used for irrigation, relationships between microbial indicator organisms and water physicochemical characteristics, and the potential use of indicators for predicting the presence of human pathogens. A total of 153 samples taken from surface water sources used for irrigation in southeastern Pennsylvania were collected from 39 farms over a 2-year period. Samples were analyzed for six microbial indicator organisms (aerobic plate count, Enterobacteriaceae, coliform, fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and enterococci), two human pathogens (Salmonella and E. coli O157), and seven physical and environmental characteristics (pH, conductivity, turbidity, air and water temperature, and sampling day and 3-day-accumulated precipitation levels). Indicator populations were highly variable and not predicted by water and environmental characteristics. Only five samples were confirmed positive for Salmonella, and no E. coli O157 was detected in any samples. Predictive relationships between microbial indicators and the occurrence of pathogens could therefore not be determined.


Keywords: Fresh produce, Irrigation, Microbial indicators, Pathogens, Surface water


Received: October 23, 2015; Accepted: February 26, 2016;