FDA Reports on Food Safety Risks of Spice Imports
The Food and Drug Administration announced the availability of a new draft risk profile on pathogens and filth in spices (here). The assessment would be used by FDA staff to inform their regulatory decision-making related to the safety of spices in the U.S. food supply, said FDA in a Federal Register notice (here). The risk profile identifies the most commonly occurring hazards and filth and spices, as well as the prevalence of these risks at different points long the supply chain. It also identifies mitigation and control options, including future possibilities and areas for more research, said a Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Constituent Update (here). Comments on the draft risk profile are due by Jan. 3.
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Salmonella, Filth Twice as Prevalent for Spices
Most spices consumed in the U.S. are imported, the report said -- and FDA sampling found 6.6% of spice import shipments were contaminated with salmonella, which is twice the level for other foods. The contamination wasn’t limited to particular types, forms, or source countries of spices, FDA said, concluding that salmonella is a general problem in the spice supply chain rather than a problem of a specific type or form of spice or source country.
A more prevalent problem FDA found was filth, including insects, excrement, and hair, it said. Sampling of spice imports found that 12% of shipments tested positive for filth, again about twice the rate for all imported food shipments. And once again, contamination occurred across types, forms, and source countries. The most common types of filth were insects and insect parts, and animal hair, especially rodent. These types of filth indicate insanitary conditions and failure to properly apply current good manufacturing practices (CGMPs), FDA said.
Mitigation Includes CBMPs, FSMA Regs, Foreign Government Cooperation
Current mitigation and control options include CGMPs, sampling, refusals and reconditioning, and import alerts, FDA said. One example of a particularly effective mitigation strategy is Import Alert 28-02 on Indian black pepper, which includes a cooperative agreement with the Indian government to improve the safety of black pepper export shipments to the U.S. The initiative resulted in imported black pepper having much lower filth violation rates than many other types of spices, FDA said. The Food Safety Modernization Act is giving FDA new tools to ensure spice food safety, like authority to mandate recalls and increase the frequency of foreign and domestic inspections.
In the near future, FSMA regulations like preventative controls and CGMP requirements for human food and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program will also play roles, said FDA. Other actions listed by FDA that could help mitigate spice food safety risks in the near future include:
- FDA work with governments of spice producing countries to enhance food safety oversight by developing and formalizing programs such as the Indian EIC certificate program.
- Strengthen the capacity of regulatory systems in spice-source countries.
- Improve storage practices for spices.
- Improve Import Alert communication.
- Increase inspections of foreign and domestic facilities.
- Alert/communicate with spice-producing countries when observations suggest that the application of current preventive controls for pathogens and filth in spices may not be adequate.
- Overhaul FDA product codes to allow for better identification of products and more precise tracking and trending of products by FDA.
Spice Association Defends Imports
The American Spice Trade Association came to the defense of the spices discussed by the FDA. "Much of the spice presented at import is essentially a raw agricultural commodity that will undergo extensive cleaning, processing and treatment for pathogens once it enters the U.S. to ensure it is clean and free of microbial contamination," said the trade group in a statement (here). "Most spices require tropical or subtropical conditions to grow and therefore are grown in developing countries around the world where sanitation and food handling practices may not always be adequate. All agricultural products, including spices, are commonly exposed to dust, dirt, insects and animal waste before they are harvested and there are additional opportunities for contamination during primary processing, storage and transportation."