Consultant disagrees, points out that large retailers set high standards

By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press

WENATCHEE, Wash. -- The era of large retailers enforcing food safety in supply chains is weakening because of the recession, says a noted food industry commentator.

The aligned supply chain model of large companies contracting for produce before it is grown and enforcing supply chain responsibilities is being replaced by an age of expediency, says James Prevor, editor of Produce Business and Perishable Pundit in Boca Raton, Fla.

Prevor, who has family roots in food imports and exports, spoke to hundreds of tree fruit growers at the 105th annual meeting of the Washington State Horticultural Association in Wenatchee on Monday, Dec. 7.

The recession has caused large retailers to decide they can't enforce regulations on suppliers because they need to have cheaper deals, Prevor said.

"The burden on retailers won't allow them any longer to be the ones to enforce food safety or other supply chain obligations, so people who want food safety to happen will turn to government," Prevor said. "So now a large number of regulations are being piled on with more to come."

Retailers need more flexibility to ensure they always have product, he said.

He predicted some breakup of big chains. He said Sam's Club may be split off from Wal-Mart as antitrust enforcement is stepped up.

And, he said, perception is replacing science in Europe and driving increasing controls on pesticides.

But another conference speaker, David Theno, a food safety consultant from Delmar, Calif., stressed the importance of food safety.

He talked about his work with Jack-In-The-Box restaurants in 1992, helping it through an E. coli outbreak in which four children died and more than 800 people became ill.

He said he got to know the mother of a 6-year-old victim and always thinks of that little girl when considering issues of food safety.

"It doesn't necessarily cost more to do it right," Theno said. "Costco and Wal-Mart are huge drivers of food safety and are willing to spend a little more."

Interviewed after the speeches, Wayne Worby, a Selah, Wash. cherry grower and computer software designer, said it's challenging for warehouses to trace fruit back to growers because a lot of data comes in on paper. He said he has software that can help trace fruit.

"There's a certain amount of passiveness to link it all together because penalties are relatively small," he said, noting minimum residue levels of pesticides on cherries could become an issue.

"We've had no recall so far," he said, "but it's a question of when, not if."