USDA eliminates produce-testing program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Dec. 31, 2012, officially shuttered the $4.5 million Mi…The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Dec. 31, 2012, officially shuttered the $4.5 million Microbiological Data Program (MDP) that conducted 80% of all federal produce testing for pathogens, such as E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella as reported by Food Safety News.
MDP was launched in 2001 as a data collection program to improve understanding of the prevalence of foodborne pathogens on high-risk fruit and vegetable products and to enhance consumer confidence in the safety of those food products Eleven states—California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin—participated in the program and collected samples under cooperative agreements of fresh produce.
State labs performed the analytical testing of domestic and imported produce samples. In 2011, this single program performed more than 35,000 tests on more than 17,400 produce samples.
In November 2012, USDA officials notified the 11 states that participated in the program to stop pulling produce samples as part of an effort to shut down the program by the end of the year.
