Produce Safety Summit: Implications of Mandatory Safety Standards

The Produce Safety Summit offers a view into a potential future of mandatory produce safety standards and, more importantly, an understanding of the drivers and implications of that evolution. By experiencing this simulated future together, participants have developed a shared appreciation of the implications and impacts of potential mandatory standards, which can serve to bring new value and viewpoints to the current standard-setting dialogues.

During the course of the Summit, it became evident that, although the participants may have used different words or come from different backgrounds, they expressed similar concerns and suggestions. While mandatory standards are foreseeable and will serve to enhance the overall integrity of our food safety system, there are critical issues that must not be overlooked. The balance between universal applica¬tion of standards with an accounting for differences between commodities and growing regions is a critical aspect of standards development. Additionally, while a science- and risk-based approach to standards implementation is required, we must not “hide behind science,” avoiding potential interim solutions in the quest for the most scientific answer.

As with the development and review of standards in any industry, the ability to remain adaptable and flexible to new information and new approaches will serve well in ensuring that standards continue to meet real requirements over time. In the quest to expeditiously implement new safety practices, we must not lose sight of the complex innerworkings of this industry or overlook the need to ensure a thoughtful, phased approach to better address just such challenges.