Posted: April 7th, 2011 - 5:09pm
Source: The Packer

McALLEN, Texas -- Mexican produce shippers and their U.S.-based importers are eager to show consumers that Mexican growers have the same food safety standards as those north of the Rio Grande.
At a March 31 workshop on food safety at the America Trades Produce conference, Oscar Morales Galvan, a representative from SENASICA, the Mexican government’s food safety division, said more Mexican growers are working with third-party food safety auditors than ever before.
He said SENASICA’s philosophy is one of prevention of risks.
Ted Poplawski, assistant to the director of import operations and policy at the Food and Drug Administration, said FDA has taken on more responsibility and now has to make judgments on more than 20 million food packages per year.
“FDA cannot enforce and ensure food safety by itself,” he said, citing the new Food Safety Modernization Act, which holds all companies in the food chain responsible for food safety.