State expects little impact from new FDA food safety rules

The California Farm Bureau Federation in Sacramento is reviewing the 547-page document of proposed food safety rules from the federal Food and Drug Administration, the executive director for the Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau says.

New preventive control provisions would apply, with some exceptions, to facilities that are required to register with the FDA under food facility registration regulations, Megan Foster said Monday.

"Activities within the definition of 'farm' would not be subject to the rule," Foster noted.

She said the state Farm Bureau wants practices California growers already implement for food safety to be recognized.

The FDA could find problems where there are none, whether it is in a paperwork problem or a standard that goes too far, Foster said.

Dan Sumner, an agricultural economics professor and director of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center at UC Davis, said of the federal regulations that, "the California produce industry has been way ahead of a lot of what has been proposed."

"The new rules are not going to change anything they're currently doing — not fundamentally," Sumner said.

He said of the proposals that, "It's not clear they're as big a deal as seems to be floating around."

Sunsweet in Yuba City and Pacific Coast Producers in Live Oak could not be reached for comment.

CONTACT Ryan McCarthy at rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4780. Find him on Facebook at /ADrmccarthy or on Twitter at @ADrmccarthy.