National Potato Council looking for FSMA exemption for potatoes

The potato industry has drafted a guidance document to help US potato growers and handlers meet the industry's best practices. The National Potato Council argues such voluntary efforts should be sufficient and potatoes shouldn't' be subject to any Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements, since they're typically eaten cooked.

Leaders with the National Potato Council will ask the federal Food and Drug Administration to exempt spuds from proposed food safety rules governing processing and packing facilities, John Keeling, the organization’s executive vice president and CEO, said during a Nov. 8 conference call.

Keeling emphasized the Food Safety and Modernization Act’s proposed produce rule excuses spuds from forthcoming on-farm regulations, deeming the vegetable to be safe since it’s typically eaten cooked.

Under the act’s preventative controls provision, however, potatoes are held to the same standards as other produce — requiring facilities that pack or process potatoes from multiple farms to meet quality standards and maintain records showing they’re following measures to prevent potential hazards identified through analysis.

Keeling will send his comments on behalf of the industry prior to a Nov. 26 deadline for FSMA public comments.

“We don’t believe just because a low-risk commodity moves from the farm to a packing shed and is associated with other low-risk commodities from other farms … it elevates the risk,” Keeling said. “This is a major undertaking and rewrite of our food safety laws. It’s going to take several iterations we believe to get it right.”

Keeling believes potatoes have a track record for safety, and the FDA would be better served by allowing the potato industry to improve through voluntary efforts, such as a new guidance document his organization commissioned to outline best practices in producing, harvesting, storing, packing and transporting potatoes.