Produce Marketing Association

PMA Comments on FSMA Traceability Rule

The Produce Marketing Association submitted comments on the rule that aims to establish recordkeeping requirements for foods on the Food Traceability List.

February 12, 2021

Edited by QA Staff

Tracking and Traceability

Editor's Note: Read Dr. David Acheson's column on The ABCs of the Proposed Food Traceability Rule, and our new feature Seeing the Potential, for more info on traceability.

NEWARK, Del. — The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) submitted comments on the proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods. The intention of the rule is to establish recordkeeping requirements for foods on the Food Traceability List (FTL) designed to improve the traceability information during foodborne illness outbreaks and to increase the speed and precision of trace-back and trace-forward investigations for recall events.

The comments put forth by PMA were informed by the challenges the industry has faced in obtaining critical tracing information and the advancements in traceability approaches that industry has already begun to implement. PMA supports FDA efforts to use the proposed rule to reduce the harm to consumers caused by foodborne pathogens and limit adverse impacts on industry sectors affected by the outbreaks by improving the ability to trace the movement quickly and efficiently through the supply chain of foods recognized as causing illness, identify and remove products from the marketplace, and develop mitigation strategies to prevent future contamination.

Overall, PMA commends the FDA on release of the proposed rule that it believes will strengthen the industry’s record keeping requirements for certain foods, some of which were linked to outbreaks of foodborne illness. The net result will be much stronger consumer confidence in products produced by the fresh produce and broader food industry.

In reviewing the proposed rule, PMA noted a number of areas where there were outstanding questions or additional guidance needed from FDA to properly communicate and enforce the regulations. PMA’s comments on the proposed rule noted the following key points relative to the fresh produce sector:

Clarity on what people, foods and food establishments will be exempted from the rule.
Clarity on a number of definitions in the rule, including:
Cooling
Critical Tracking
Farm
First Receiver
Food Traceability List
Physical Location
Harvesting
Holding
Kill Step
Location Identifier
Lot
Manufacturing
Nonprofit Food Establishment
Originating
Packing
Person
Physical Location Name
Point of Contact
Receiving
Reference Record
Retail Food Establishment
Shipping
Traceability Product Description
Traceability Product Identifier
Transformation

Further FDA guidance on the program records required for products on the Food Traceability List.
Concerns that information received from the first receiver will be difficult to capture and verify, or may be inaccurate.
Recommendation to use the case-level GTIN lot number to identify the originator.
Data privacy and corporate confidentiality concerns generated by asking the first receiver to share data that is not their own.
Records required when receiving or transforming foods on the Food Traceability List.
Recordkeeping requirements for foods subject to a kill step.
The circumstances in which FDA will modify requirements or exempt a food or type of entity from requirements.

Jayson Lusk

Purdue University

Purdue-Developed Dashboards Will Offer Supply Info During Crises

The data dashboards will offer timely food supply info during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

February 11, 2021

Edited by QA Staff

COVID-19 Coronavirus

Editor's Note: Read our story on potential supply chain trends for 2021, including how COVID-19 has changed farm-to-fork.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, as governments issued lockdown orders and stay-at-home advisories, grocery store shelves went bare. Shoppers scooped up flour and yeast, canned goods, frozen vegetables, meats and any other staples that they were concerned could run out before they got the chance to return to the stores.

With few exceptions, there were no real concerns about food shortages in the United States, said Jayson Lusk, professor and head of Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics. However, there was no easy way for consumers or policymakers to know that since data that could be used to calculate the risk to the country’s food supply is spread piecemeal across multiple government agencies like the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This experience motivated Lusk to lead a partnership among Purdue University, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and Microsoft to create open-access online dashboards that can track and report the factors that could lead to food supply disruptions during national and global emergencies.

“The data are not always user-friendly for people unless you’re a specialist and know where to go to find it all,” Lusk said. “There were disruptions for consumers that didn’t have to occur. In the early aftermath of that, I was part of a group brainstorming the types of information that needs to be accessible and what we can do to help the food and agriculture sectors, government and consumers understand what’s going on during an emergency. We believe these dashboards can help.”

FFAR is providing more than $220,000 to Purdue, with Microsoft matching those funds and supplying cloud technology, business intelligence, artificial intelligence and machine learning tools for the project. The total investment in the project is more than $500,000.

“The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for easily accessible data on potential vulnerabilities in the food supply chain,” said Sally Rockey, executive director of FFAR. “This research is exposing those vulnerabilities in real time, providing policymakers and industry with the information needed to prevent bottlenecks and ensure food security.”

While the dashboards are being developed with COVID-19 in mind, they will be adaptable to any other situation that could cause a food supply disruption. The work will build off the Purdue Food and Agriculture Vulnerability Index, which quantifies the potential risk to the supply of agricultural products because of farm and agricultural worker illnesses from COVID-19.

“There are certainly still concerns about COVID, but the idea is to develop multiple dashboards on different topics so that we’re prepared to respond to a variety of issues that might come up during a large-scale emergency,” Lusk said. “The dashboard we have now is based on publicly available data and only tells you so much. With these new dashboards, we’ll integrate machine learning and make extrapolations to better estimate and predict disruptions in the food supply sector.”

One area that has been a concern during COVID-19 is the meat processing sector, where high rates of COVID-19 among workers can disrupt operations. Lusk said dashboards will zoom in on the county level to show the percentage of residents who are sick and use machine learning to estimate the number of workers in a plant that may be affected or could be in the near future. That information can be useful to health officials and government agencies, who could shift resources to those areas or enact rules to counteract the problems.

The work also offers researchers data to identify the impacts of policy decisions during a pandemic or other type of large-scale emergency.

“These dashboards may give us the opportunity to understand how regulations impact food supply during a pandemic,” Lusk said. “That can help inform future decisions so that we can keep food flowing from areas of low demand to high and getting to the people who most need it in difficult times."

Freshly

Freshly Grows Southeast Operations With New Georgia Facility

The new facility will allow the company to reduce order-to-delivery cycle time to consumers and will bring more than 150 jobs to the greater Atlanta area.

February 11, 2021

Edited by QA Staff

mergers and acquisitions

NEW YORK CITY — Freshly, a fresh-prepared meal delivery service, announced yesterday that it will expand its assembly and distribution operations by opening a new facility in Austell, Ga. Centrally located in the Southeast, the distribution center will reduce order-to-delivery cycle time to consumers and will bring more than 150 jobs to the greater Atlanta area.

The 134,000-square-foot facility will be Freshly's largest dedicated order-assembly facility to date and will begin operating in mid-February. In the last 12 months, Freshly has surpassed the goal of delivering one million meals per week and continues to grow its customer base and meal offerings month over month. Fueled by renewed consumer demand for at-home convenience, the launch of the new facility is projected to increase assembly and distribution operations capacity by 40% this year for an additional 450,000 meals distributed weekly.

"2020 was a year of monumental growth for Freshly. We joined the Nestlé USA family, expanded West Coast operations and launched FreshlyFit, to name a few major milestones," said Mike Wystrach, Freshly founder and CEO. "Joining Nestlé has allowed us to scale bigger and faster, getting us to this next stage of growth. We are thrilled to continue in 2021 by expanding operations in the Southeast and have plans to add even more facilities this year that will help further our mission of delivering nutritious and convenient meals."

During the initial launch phase, the new facility will bring on 150 hires across operations, support staff, warehousing and maintenance roles, with plans to hire at least 250 by the end of 2021.

"Our new Georgia facility creates opportunities to bring innovation to the direct-to-consumer distribution channel with added capacity for efficient assembly and distribution of fresh prepared meals. We are excited to expand Freshly's footprint and to join the Austell community," said Rick Stoecklein, Freshly's senior vice president of operations.

"It's a pleasure to welcome this rapidly growing meal delivery service brand to the Peach State," said Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp. "Our robust logistics infrastructure and highly skilled workforce have been critical to attracting new jobs and opportunities, which continue to put hardworking Georgians back to work."

"Americans have changed the way they purchase their food, and our state's logistics network has helped make it seamless for companies to adapt and ramp up their services to meet customers' evolving needs," said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson. "I look forward to Georgia being a part of Freshly's long-term success and am grateful to all of our economic development partners involved in creating these jobs in our state."

In addition to the Austell facility, Freshly also has facilities in Commerce, Calif., Linden, N.J., Savage, Ma., and Phoenix, Ariz.

Avian Influenza Webinar

WSDA

Washington State Vet Alerts Poultry Flock Owners to Potential Avian Flu Threat

In response, the state is offering a free webinar for poultry farms.

February 10, 2021

Edited by QA Staff

Webinars

OLYMPIA, Was. – The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) will offer a free webinar to help poultry owners protect their birds from avian influenza as cases continue to increase worldwide.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reports ongoing outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, in 26 countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. HPAI can spread rapidly and kill entire flocks.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently reported the current rates of HPAI in Asia and Europe are similar to the rates in 2014-2015, when HPAI was identified in the U.S., including Washington State, and thousands of birds had to be euthanized to contain the disease. This pattern suggests the risk of HPAI in the U.S. is elevated this year.

“This is definitely a situation where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — maybe more,” Dr. Brian Joseph, Washington State veterinarian, said. “By taking steps now, you can protect not only your flock but others in your community.”

In addition to existing resources such as USDA’s Defend the Flock program and information about avian influenza on WSDA’s website, WSDA will offer a free educational webinar on Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. for poultry owners. The webinar will provide information about avian influenza, how the current situation is similar to 2014-2015 and what steps poultry owners can take to protect their birds.

Baby food

Pixel-shot, Adobe Stock

Report Reveals Top Baby Foods Contain Dangerous Levels of Toxic Heavy Metals

A new report from the U.S House of Representatives Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy shows that baby foods are tainted with dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals that endanger infant neurological development and long-term brain function.

February 10, 2021

Edited by QA Staff

Food Safety

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, chairman of the subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, released a staff report showing that baby foods are tainted with dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals that endanger infant neurological development and long-term brain function.

Krishnamoorthi issued the following statement:

“Baby food manufacturers hold a special position of public trust. But consumers mistakenly believe that these companies would not sell unsafe products. The subcommittee’s staff report found that these manufacturers knowingly sell baby food containing high levels of toxic heavy metals. I hope companies will commit to making safer baby foods. Regardless, it’s time that we develop much better standards for the sake of future generations.”

The subcommittee’s investigation found:

Top baby foods are tainted with dangerous levels of inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury.
Industry self-regulation fails to protect consumers as manufacturers set their own dangerously high internal standards for toxic heavy metal levels.
Manufacturers routinely ignore internal standards and continue to sell products with higher heavy metal levels.
Manufacturers’ prevalent practice of only testing their ingredients is concealing higher levels of toxic metal in finished baby foods.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization have declared that inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury are toxic heavy metals dangerous to human health, particularly to babies and children, who are most vulnerable to their neurotoxic effects. Even low levels of exposure can cause serious and often irreversible damage to brain development.

“The subcommittee’s investigation revealed that manufacturers knowingly sell tainted baby food to unsuspecting parents, in spite of internal company test results showing high levels of toxic heavy metal, and without any warning labels whatsoever,” added Krishnamoorthi. “I look forward to FDA’s careful regulation of these toxic heavy metals in baby foods, followed by strict compliance requirements and mandatory consumer labels.”

Click here to read the subcommittee’s staff report.

PMA Comments on FSMA Traceability Rule

Purdue-Developed Dashboards Will Offer Supply Info During Crises

Freshly Grows Southeast Operations With New Georgia Facility

Washington State Vet Alerts Poultry Flock Owners to Potential Avian Flu Threat

Report Reveals Top Baby Foods Contain Dangerous Levels of Toxic Heavy Metals

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