Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Conclusions
The market for fresh produce today includes a wide range of products available year-
round. An increasing share of the products are consumed fresh and not processed.
Many of the products are imported at some time during the year. Several well-
publicized cases of foodborne illnesses illustrate the food safety hazards with fresh
produce. Raspberries from Guatemala, green onions from Mexico, and spinach/leafy
greens from California all show the potential extent and magnitude of harm caused by
breakdowns in food safety. The contamination of fresh spinach with E. coli O157 : H7
in September 2006 led to over 200 people becoming ill and a shutdown of the spinach
industry for a short period of time. These cases all show the potential for high costs
in terms of public health and to the industry from failure to control the hazards.
We draw three main conclusions and observations about economic conditions and
factors that affect food safety in fresh produce. First, in the case of the spinach and leafy
greens industry, the concentration of the major production in a relatively limited
number of states and the consolidation of major growers in the marketing and procure-
ment channels facilitated the organization of growers developing and enforcing a vol-
untary industry agreement through the LGMA on the use of Best Practices in production
and processing. Where such voluntary agreements may be more diffi cult to develop,
individual growers will continue to determine their own level of food safety.
A second conclusion is that the distribution of costs of controlling food safety in
the system can have an important impact on the structure of the industry. With new
concerns about safety, some areas or sizes of fi rms may not be as competitive as they
once were. For example, certain areas may have more problems controlling water
quality. Other environmental conditions in some areas may make production more
prone to food safety problems. Also, economies of scale in certain processing tech-
nologies or practices associated with reduced product risk would favor large fi rms. In
an extreme case, the inability of the Guatemalan raspberry producers to control the
Cyclospora contamination problem led to the demise of their industry in the U.S.
marketplace. This problem gave the raspberry industry in Mexico a competitive edge
in the U.S. marketplace, at least temporarily.
Finally, increasingly integrated global markets for fresh produce require that sup-
pliers and buyers make and receive assurances of food safety practices. Use of third-
party audits of various food safety practices is increasing among U.S. growers and
foreign growers who produce for the U.S. market.
As illustrated by the 2006 food safety outbreak related to spinach, the effects of an
outbreak on an industry can be signifi cant. To date, the food safety outbreaks for leafy
green produce have hastened and encouraged the ongoing adoption of safety-related
practices and technologies. With so much at stake for the health of the consumer and
the industry, it is important that science lead the way in identifying good practices to
reduce the risk of microbial contamination and ensure the cost-effectiveness of new
investments.
Acknowledgments
Linda Calvin is an agricultural economist with USDA's Economic Research Service.
Helen H. Jensen and Jing Liang are professor and doctoral student, respectively, in
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