PERRYVILLE -- Arkansas produce growers, large and small, have been taking classes the past two years to help prevent foodborne illnesses that sicken about 1 in 6 Americans every year.
Five people, including an Arkansan, died in this spring's outbreak of E. coli bacteria, later traced to romaine lettuce grown on a farm in Yuma, Ariz. Another 210 people were sickened in the 36-state outbreak, with about 100 being hospitalized. Federal authorities, in a preliminary report in August, said it had found a strain of the bacteria in canals, used for irrigation, near several lettuce farms and a large cattle operation in the Yuma area.
"If they'd paid better attention to their water source, this wouldn't have happened," Amanda Philyaw Perez, an assistant professor and food-safety specialist with the University of Arkansas System's Agriculture Division, told a classroom of about 20 produce growers on a recent October morning at Heifer International's ranch near Perryville.
Other classes are set for Tuesday in El Dorado and Nov. 7 in West Memphis.
The all-day classes are required for certain growers under the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, called the nation's most comprehensive overhaul of food-safety regulations in 70 years. The law set science-based minimum standards for how produce is grown, harvested, packed and held in the U.S. It also gives the FDA more authority over imported produce.
Courses like those led by Perez and a UA extension service colleague, Angela Gardner, are being conducted nationwide. Funded in part by grants from Congress, the courses use a standard curriculum developed by the Produce Safety Alliance, a collaboration between Cornell University, the federal Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Attendees at the recent Heifer ranch class included growers with years of experience, some growers whose farm incomes are so small they're exempt from the legislation, and a couple of people just now getting into the business. Two others were from the state Plant Board, which will have inspectors at farms seeking FDA certification under the new law.
One attendee, Derek Smith, general manager of New South Produce Cooperative, later said the class is "good for training and education, to bring another level of professionalism" for growers. New South, which was formed by Heifer International, has 20 farmer-members supplying fresh produce to farmer's markets, restaurants and retailers across the state, Smith said.
Some aspects of the new law will mean extra costs for the farmers who own New South, but there are programs to help offset those costs, Smith said.
The law has been implemented, piece by piece, over the past several years.
The produce-safety part of the law required the nation's largest farms -- those with more than $500,000 in annual sales -- to have received training certification by January of this year. There are 11 such farms in Arkansas, according to the USDA, using data from the 2012 Census of Agriculture.
Farms with sales of $250,000-$500,000 have a January deadline. Nine Arkansas farms fit that criteria.
Farms with sales of $25,000 to $250,000 face a 2020 deadline. There are 105 of those in Arkansas, according to the USDA.
Farms with sales of less than $25,000 aren't covered by the law.
"All growers, despite where you fall in income, should take action to reduce risks," Perez told the group. "This class, and all this work, is aimed at preventing outbreaks, not just reacting to them. If something happens on your farm, you better have liability insurance."
Besides exempting small farms, the act also doesn't apply to farms and processors of 34 specific kinds of produce that are "rarely consumed raw," such as potatoes, because those goods, once cooked, have "kill" temperatures for most bacteria.
The FDA cites several key elements under the new law:
• Testing for water quality to detect contamination by feces, which may be accompanied by bacteria that cause disease.
• Certain requirements for using manure and compost, to help reduce the likelihood of potentially dangerous bacteria entering the food supply.
• Stricter regulations for growing sprouts frequently associated with foodborne illnesses.
• Regulations for dealing with animals on farms, including livestock and wild animals that could lead to contamination.
• Hygiene among farmworkers who handle produce or touch surfaces related to the washing and packing of produce.
• Standards for equipment, tools and buildings, including greenhouses, to prevent cross-contamination.
The cause of most foodborne illnesses is bacteria, which can spread from one bacterium to more than 16 million within eight hours under the right mix of light, moisture and temperature, Perez said. Controlling those factors will limit bacteria's ability to multiply, Perez said.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and prevention, from 1996 to 2014, there were 172 produce-related outbreaks, resulting in 17,756 illnesses, about 2,100 hospitalizations and 68 deaths.
The number of illnesses in such outbreaks is underreported because most people who get sick suffer for a day or two and don't seek medical help, Perez said.
"You are protecting your farms," Perez told the group. "You don't want to sicken a hundred people at a farmer's market, because they'll never want to buy from you again."
SundayMonday Business on 10/28/2018