Ag water conundrum eludes resolution

All presenters at a Food Safety Summit session on agricultural water agreed grower-shippers need to use safe water in their operations, but they also agreed there isn't absolute science to backup proposed water regulations from the Food and Drug Administration.

Elizabeth Bihn, director of the FDA-funded Produce Safety Alliance at Cornell University, said she disagrees with a zero-tolerance approach to water testing and expressed concern that the proposed water rule will be impossible for many growers to comply with.

"There are lots of requirements but little data to show a (significant) reduction in risk," Bihn said. "We're spending a lot of time chasing a ghost."

Bihn said she wants the government and industry to define what an acceptable risk level is for fresh produce. She growers could be driven out of business by expensive and inconclusive testing requirements. That will make produce costs rise, consumption decrease and the goal of better public health via diets rich in fresh fruits and vegetables will not be met, she said.

Jim Gorny, vice president for food safety and technology at the Produce Marketing Association, Newark, Del., is a former FDA official and agreed with Bihn and other panelists that numeric standards are not the answer to water safety in the fresh produce industry.

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• Food Security
• Wastewater Use