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CDFA Announces New Pollinator Habitat Program Grants Totaling $14.5 Million

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is accepting applications for grants under its new Pollinator Habitat Program. A total of $14.5 million is being offered; each applicant organization is allowed a maximum of $2 million. The grant is open to Resource Conservation Districts, academic institutions, NGOs and tribal governments, and commodity groups are encourage ...

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FDA Publishes Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan Updated Website

.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has updated its Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan website, which details the work the agency has done – as well as the work done by others, including Western Growers – over the past two years to enhance the safety of leafy greens. Western Growers’ highlighted contributions include:  In 2020, the ...

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CFIA Update on Import Control Measures

The CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) provided an update to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the California and Arizona Leafy Green Marketing Agreements (LGMA), Western Growers (WG) and the United Fresh Produce Association regarding their plans for Import Control Measures for romaine lettuce in fall 2021. As of today, CFIA plans to implement the ...

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Invasive Fig Pest Recently Discovered in Southern California

The black fig fly (BFF), an invasive insect typically found in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions, was recently discovered infesting figs in multiple counties in southern California. The BFF has been detected in the following counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura. The BFF only attacks figs and ...

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UC Davis Report Reveals Economic Impact of November 2018 Romaine Outbreak

The agricultural sector lost more than $280 million as a result of the Nov. 2018 E. coli incident in romaine lettuce, according to a report published by the University of California at Davis. According to the study, processors and shippers lost an estimated $20.6 million as a result of having to pull harvested product from the ...

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WG Requests the FDA, USDA to Sign a Food Safety MOU

On April 29 Western Growers asked the Food and Drug Administration to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) in order for the two organizations to work collaboratively to help conduct root cause analysis for foodborne illness outbreaks. The letter, written by WG ...

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6 W’s of Groundbreaking Food Safety Data Sharing Project

By De Ann Davis, Senior Vice President, Science Western Growers is partnering with Creme Global—a leading scientific modeling, data analytics, and computing company—to create a comprehensive food safety data-sharing tool. The project begins with a focus on pre-harvest pathogen testing data and other meta-data, which is collected from participating growers autonomously and anonymously to…

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SCIENCE: Can Animal Agricultural & Produce Production Co-exist?

Can you safely have animal agriculture near produce production areas? With the appropriate food safety measures in place, meaning they must be both surgical and practical, the answer is “yes.” Numerous investigations of recent foodborne illness outbreaks associated with fresh produce consumption have indicated that broader agricultural environment contamination with human pathogens of public…

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Science: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

There are many areas in the western United States where specialty crops are grown in proximity to—or at an immediate interface with—various types of domesticated animal operations. These mixed agricultural regions raise important concerns about the potential of human pathogen transfer from animals to crops. When neighboring operations share the same geography, infrastructure and weather…

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Update on Canadian Import Requirements for Romaine Lettuce

On September 14, 2021, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released new import requirements for all imported romaine lettuce originating in the United States between September 30 and December 31, 2021. CFIA is implementing temporary Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) license conditions during this period to decrease the risk associated with E. coli in romaine ...

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