It appears most of those attending the conference agree with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the crop size numbers, it is reported. The USApple estimate will be made on Friday at noon EST, and will probably be close to the USDA August 1 national figure of 242.2 million bushels.
Roberta Wagner from FDA’s Food Safety Modernisation programme told growers that
the FDA will not use a heavy-handed enforcement model and will attempt to achieve
industry adoption by voluntary compliance with enforcement as a last resort.
“That model is gone,” she said of the usual inspection-and-penalty FDA process.
Final rules are expected to be published August 31.
Apple growers’ usual protests about apples not needing the same food safety scrutiny as other produce were silent this year following the Listeria outbreak
in caramel apples last year that hospitalised 34 and killed 3. Nobody yet knows
whether to blame the apples, the caramel, or the combination.
There was also a big discussion in a session on apple juice. Weak currencies in
Europe and South America have changed the flow patterns for apple juice
concentrate.
