The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is said to be shuttering a program that is designed to assist in the surveillance of food-related outbreaks.
Agriculture Department officials told states that participate in the $4.5 million Microbiological Data Program (MDP) to stop pulling produce samples as part of an effort to shut down the program by the end of the year, Food Safety News reported last week.
Initiated in 2001 by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, the program collects information on the prevalence of harmful bacteria in fresh fruits and vegetables through cooperation with state agriculture departments and other federal agencies. Eleven states participate, representing half of the nation's population, according to information from MDP.
Under the program, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notified whenever a product tests positive for the presence of harmful bacteria and the source of the contamination can be eliminated from the food distribution system. Such information also is relayed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state Departments of Health.
Carla Daniels, a spokeswoman with FDA, confirmed with Food Safety News that USDA and FDA are coordinating on the shutdown of the program. "FDA will continue its existing efforts to collect and analyze fresh produce samples to provide some information regarding the level of contamination associated with fresh produce," Daniels said in the report.
Representatives of the MDP did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the reported shutdown of the program.
