February, 1997
The fruit juice industry's wait for Federal policy on product safety will
require more patience.
In response to recent outbreaks of E. coli bacterial contamination, the
Food and Drug Administration held hearings in December and received public
comments. Their response, which was expected in February or March, will
appear in late spring at the earliest, according to an agency spokesman.
"We had hoped to do it by March, but now we're estimating early
summer, perhaps as early as May," said press officer Arthur Whitmore.
The proposals must then be submitted to other federal agencies for review,
which will include an economic impact analysis. The proposal will then be
released to the public, which will get an opportunity for comment, which
normally takes 60 to 90 days. Thus, said Whitmore, it's unlikely a final
rule will be in place before the next growing season.
That gives the industry time to react, which is taking place in many
forms. An advisory committee formed in Michigan has set up two cider making
seminars (see related story) and is deliberating General Management Practices.
A day-long cider seminar was set for early March at Cornell, while Illinois
has a program combining a cider school with test, inspections and state
certification.
The important research needed to help the industry solve the problem of
bacterial contamination of juice will take some extra time as well. The
Michigan task force's research subcommittee has established as its priorities
finding out when and where the initial contamination takes place, determining
the effectiveness of sanitizers (including ozone), and learning what impact
different processing techniques will have on the bacteria and what they
will cost.
"This is a long-term project," said Jerry Cash of Michigan
State University's Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. "It
takes two to three years to get the information together and put it in a
form that's usable.
Grower outreach is taking a systems approach in Illinois. The Illinois
Horticultural Society's summer meeting this year will consist of an orchard
tour in the morning, followed by an afternoon-long cider school June 26
at Mills Apple Farm near Marine, located 25 miles northeast of St. Louis.
IHS President Jerry Mills is hosting the school, which will consist of
educational sessions and a test. Follow-up inspections by the Illinois Department
of Health will take place. If a cider operation clears all those hurdles,
it will receive state certification.
The Illinois program originated three years ago when the state was concerned
about the possibility of an E. coli. outbreak after an incident in another
state. No E. coli. was found, but other shortcomings were discovered. Cider
operations are not routinely inspected by the government in Illinois.
"This led us to take it a step further and improve our knowledge
and procedures," said Mills.
When the Odwalla contaminated cider outbreak took place last October, IHS
members contacted state health officials and asked for their assistance
in setting up a certification program.
This year's cider school will actually be the third one in Illinois, but
will have the extra incentive of the certification program. That is expected
to lure most if not all of the state's 83 cider makers.
"The certification program will be more proactive to show the press
and the public that we're staying ahead of it," said Mills. The program
will be administered by the IHS, which will have no legal authority over
cidermakers in the state. However, inspections will be done by the state,
and Mills promises society members will be vigilant in observing how cider
is made in the Prairie State.
Only cidermakers from Illinois will be eligible to receive certification
from the cider school. But Mills and the society will invite people from
other states to attend and gain more knowledge.
"This is bigger than any of us individually or even as a state. If
any guy fouls up and puts some bad stuff out, the whole industry is going
to lose. You can get a food poisoning episode at a restaurant and everybody
says 'that's a dirty restaurant." But if you get something bad from
a cidermaker, they say "that's a dirty industry" and we go down
the tubes.
On the national level, the U.S. Apple Association is compiling results
from its survey, continuing to engage in dialogue with the FDA and coordinate
research work. Ellen Terpstra, president of U.S. Apple, and Julia Stewart
Daly, the association's director of communications have visited numerous
winter meetings getting the word out to growers.
Daly believes the survey will provide information to help the industry
develop General Management Practices. U.S. Apple will try and coordinate
the research efforts taking place around the nation to determine just what
those practices are.
"We're leaning toward developing these model GMPs and anticipate
proposing them to our board," said Daly.
The Great Lakes
Fruit Growers News