During the last six months, the governments of Mexico and the United States have intensified training programs for agricultural growers and harmonized laboratory methodologies. Their goal is to enhance prevention and response capabilities related to diseases associated with fresh and minimally processed foods. Health agencies from both nations have been actively involved in this effort.

During the first 2024 online meeting of the Food Safety Alliance Steering Committee, officials from Mexico’s National Agri-Food Health, Safety, and Quality Service (Senasica), the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assessed the progress made by working groups to ensure compliance.

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Key achievements include:

1. Regulatory Compliance: Both countries health agencies prioritize adherence to the U.S. Fresh Produce Safety Standard and Senasica’s Contamination Risk Reduction Systems (CRRS) to ensure safe food production, harvesting, handling, and marketing of fresh vegetables, the established hygiene measures were applied to reduce the risk of contamination by physical, chemical and microbiological agents. Through these regulations, health agencies and the industry make consumers feel sure that it is a quality product.
2. Global Challenges: Almost four years after the Alliance confirmation, joint work schemes have been strengthened, which has made it possible to better face the main food safety challenges arising from globalization and natural disasters.
3. Coordinated Efforts: Meeting these challenges required the implementation of regional actions to strengthen surveillance systems, promote good agricultural practices, enhance food storage methods, and foster government-industry collaboration.

The FDA representatives recognize the strategic importance of the Food Safety Alliance for the American Government, one of the most important in food safety, especially given that a significant portion of fresh produce consumed in the U.S. originates from Mexico. The agency remains committed to sharing technical and scientific information with Mexican counterparts to improve outbreak prevention and response.

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They reaffirmed the U.S. agency’s commitment to share with its Mexican counterparts the technical and scientific information needed to move to improve prevention and response to outbreaks of fresh food-borne illnesses.

In October 2020, health agencies from both countries signed the Declaration of Intent of the Food Safety Alliance, to gain a deeper understanding of the food safety systems, fostering mutual trust and identifying areas for further cooperation. Recent progress of the working groups includes:

• Strategic Priorities: During the meeting, the progress of group 1, Specialists trained 277 onion growers in Chihuahua, ensuring safe cultivation and packaging practices.
• Laboratory Collaboration: In the second group the technical workers from Mexico and the United States harmonized genomic sequencing methods, detecting pathogens and microorganisms of agrifood interest like Cyclospora cayetanensis, Hepatitis A virus, and Norovirus.
• Outbreak Response: The Binational Outbreak Notification Protocol in Group 3 facilitated timely communication between health agencies during incidents such as Salmonella outbreaks linked to melons.

This ongoing collaboration underscores the commitment to food safety and strengthens both nations’ systems.

Source: hortocultivos.com