UNITED STATES - The Produce Marketing Association (PMA), Western Growers Association (WGA) and Center for Produce Safety (CPS) have partnered to create Agricultural Water: Five-Year Research Review, a report focused on agricultural water and its impact on food safety.
This tool has been designed to help the industry evaluate and consider scientific research findings released over several years, according to a press release. To read the full report, click here.
“I think it is often difficult for a grower or a handler to track the volume of relevant, industry-ready research that comes out of the Center for Produce Safety,” said Hank Giclas, Senior Vice President of Science, Technology and Strategic Planning for Western Growers. “It is even more challenging when you look back over the last six years at almost $14 million worth of funding for 85 different projects across almost two dozen institutions. That is why I am very excited and pleased to work with the Produce Marketing Association to review and synthesize CPS output on a topic-by-topic basis.”
These are the four key areas addressed in the report:
- Human Pathogen Prevalence, Quality and Persistence in Agricultural Water
- Transfer and Persistence of Human Pathogens from Contaminated Agricultural Water to the Agricultural Environment and Produce
- Managing Agricultural Water Safety
- Tools to Assess the Risk Posed by Agricultural Water Use and Practices
“CPS has funded a number of agricultural water research projects throughout the United States. We appreciate the time and resources provided by the Produce Marketing Association and Western Growers Association to review the body of work and provide a comprehensive report for use by the produce industry,” said Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, Executive Director, Center for Produce Safety.
This report comes after the release of the proposed produce safety rule from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Dr. Jim Gorny, PMA’s Vice President of Food Safety & Technology, added, “It’s an excellent resource for industry members participating in the forthcoming FSMA produce rule policy debate regarding appropriate and effective agricultural water preventive control standards."
For questions about the Agricultural Water: Five-Year Research Review report findings or other research areas pertaining to food safety, science and technology, please contact CPS’ Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, PMA’s Dr. Jim Gorny, or WGA’s Hank Giclas.
