Outbreak updates, FDA romaine sampling, end-of-the-year get-together

4 years ago

PMA
 

Dear colleagues, 

This week has been a busy one for PMA focused on produce safety. Yesterday, Dr. Trevor Suslow hosted the Virtual Town Hall on "Cracking the Code of Seasonality in Leafy Green Outbreaks" and today, Ed Treacy will be hosting the FSMA Part 204 Record Keeping webinar. Additionally, Richard Owen will join me on LinkedIn around noon today to discuss the transition “landing teams” for the USDA. 

In this newsletter, you’ll find FDA and CDC updates on outbreaks, an invite to the end-of-the-year get-together of the SciTech Community and graduating college seniors (your future colleagues!), as well as updates on climate policies and bioengineered food labeling.
 
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You are invited to join PMA and the Center for Growing Talent on December 10, 2020 at 6:00 pm Eastern/3:00 pm Pacific. Join your colleagues in the Science, Technology and Sustainability community as well as graduating seniors and Master's students as we reflect on the past year, have some trivia fun, and network at our end of year virtual “Happy Hour and a Half.” Please register in advance and make sure to bring your favorite cocktail or mocktail. We look forward to closing out 2020 with you.
Agencies Release New Weekly Foodborne Outbreaks Update Matrix and Communications Initiative 
 

Following a brief call yesterday with trade associations, the FDA CORE, CDC, and USDA FSIS shared a press release and link to each agency’s first-generation platform for New Communications Initiatives for Foodborne Outbreaks. This action is part of an effort to fulfill an evolving level of transparency in industry and public engagement. The stated purpose is to share emerging and ongoing expanded information, each Wednesday, to build public attention and awareness of developing multistate (or selected individual state) outbreaks within the U.S. Find more information on the platforms and matrix of information, including the press release from the agencies on pma.com
E. coli Outbreak Number Update
 
 
CDC has provided the following updates, whcih we provide here verbatim:
E. coli O157:H7 strain REPEXH01:
  • Total cases: 29
  • Outbreak Trajectory:  No additional cases identified since the last update
  • Most recent date of illness onset: October 16, 2020
  • Status of the epi investigation: Multiple food types still under investigation
E. coli O157:H7 strain REPEXH02:
  • Total cases: 39
  • Outbreak trajectory: No additional cases identified since the last update
  • Most recent date of illness onset: October 23, 2020
  • Status of the epi investigation: Leafy greens under investigation with a focus on romaine lettuce and spinach
E. coli O157:H7 investigation 3:
  • Total cases: 13
  • Outbreak trajectory: 1 new cases identified this week
  • Most recent date of illness onset: October 26, 2020
  • Status of the epi investigation: Leafy greens under investigation with a focus on romaine lettuce
     
FDA Romaine Sampling
 
The FDA has resumed the small, focused assignment to collect samples of raw agricultural commodity (RAC) romaine lettuce to test for pathogenic E. coli (STEC) and Salmonella spp., microbial hazards repeatedly linked to foodborne illnesses associated with romaine lettuce consumption. The assignment has been restarted and extended through to the end of 2020. Please see FDA further information. 
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USDA Webinar to Provide an Overview of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard 
 
The USDA Food Disclosure and Labeling Division (FDLD) will hold an informational webinar on the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (the Standard). The webinar is meant to help regulated entities, including food manufacturers, importers, and certain retailers, comply with the Standard before the mandatory compliance date of January 1, 2022.
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Unprecedented Climate Policy Recommendations
 
The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA), representing farmers, forest owners, the food sector, state governments and environmental advocates unveiled an unprecedented set of more than 40 recommendations to guide the development of federal climate policy. They are based on three principles: 
  • agricultural and forestry climate policies must be built upon voluntary, incentive-based programs and market-driven opportunities; 
  • they must promote resilience and adaptation in rural communities; and 
  • they must be science-based. 
These recommendations share an overarching goal to do no harm. Climate policies will impact farmers, forest owners, ranchers, rural and limited-resources communities, wildlife and natural resources and must be thoughtfully crafted to account for any potential inequities, consequences and tradeoffs. Find the overview of climate policy recommendations www.agclimatealliance.com. 
 
As always, if you would like to add others in your organization to our contact list, please let Cyndi Neal know.

I hope that you are staying safe and in good spirits.
 

Sincerely,
Max
 
 
Produce Marketing Association
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Source: https://www.pma.com
Dr. Max Teplitski
Chief Science Officer
Produce Marketing Association
+1 (302) 607-2194