Washington, DC
March 24, 2009
In meetings with USDA, FDA, NSF,
EPA, the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy last week, key leaders
from The
American Phytopathological Society (APS) Public Policy Board
(PPB) addressed concerns related to human pathogens on plants
and noted that significantly more research is needed to ensure
national food safety.
“Plant pathologists are well positioned to provide valuable
knowledge on these issues, given their unique expertise
investigating the complex relationships between microbes and
plants,” stated Jacque Fletcher, APS Public Policy Board Chair
and regent's professor of plant pathology at Oklahoma State
University. “APS is calling for new fundamental and practical
research to identify best management practices and to
investigate contamination routes, environmental survival, and
interactions of human pathogens with plants in pre-harvest
situations.” To provide additional investment in this critical
food safety research area, the APS PPB is recommending an
interagency research program specifically focused on gaining
fundamental and practical knowledge of human pathogen-plant
interactions.
“The strategy for response must include a pre-harvest
perspective,” said Fletcher. “New targeted research will provide
the necessary tools and strategies, as well as creative
cross-disciplinary approaches necessary, to design effective
solutions to microbial contamination of food plants, which is
vital to the protection of U.S. crops.” While increased funding
for food inspections is important, checking processing sites
will not prevent food contamination if human pathogens are
already colonizing the plant.
Fletcher, along with other key plant pathologists, provided case
studies including the outbreaks of shigatoxin-producing E. coli
in spinach and lettuce, as examples of the tremendous costs and
threat that these agents can create on fresh produce. These
discussions were part of the annual meetings that the APS Public
Policy Board has with the leadership of relevant federal
agencies and departments to acquaint them with the high
programmatic priorities of APS.
The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is a non-profit,
professional scientific organization. The research of the
organization's 5,000 worldwide members advances the
understanding of the science of plant pathology and its
application to plant health. |
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