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Produce Safety & Security International Provides Follow Up For Solution To The Spinach Issue
Lewisville, TX - (WORLD STOCK WIRE) - April 8, 2008 -- Produce Safety & Security International, Inc. (Pink Sheets: PRSF) announces that the Company provides a cost-effective proactive solution that could have helped prevent the multi-million dollar loss to the Spinach Industry.
Spinach processing plants received unwanted attention in Congress in early March when Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) released a report criticizing the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for failing to take enforcement actions against facilities cited for repeated problems. A congressional committee reviewed six years of the inspection reports of 167 facilities producing packaged fresh spinach from January 2001 to February 2007.
In nearly half the reports, the spinach plants were cited for "objectionable conditions" such as facility sanitation problems, but none of the problems were referred to FDA enforcement authorities, said the report. The investigation reveals, I fear, a system incapable of preventing another outbreak in fresh produce," Rep. Waxman said at a congressional hearing. "Some of this is because of lack of resources and some of it lack of authority of the FDA. Fresh Spinach Safety, also found that FDA inspectors were denied access to facility records such as food sampling, maintenance records and consumer complaint files, and had no authority to demand these files. FDA inspections were dubbed "poorly targeted" because none of the 199 inspection records reviewed by committee staff contained observations from the spinach fields.
Will Daniels, Vice President of quality, food safety and organic integrity for Earthbound Farm, who also spoke at the meeting, said that his company was "shaken awake" by the 2006 spinach outbreak, completely changing its food- safety system. Despite the company's multiple-hurdle system that incorporates a range of firewalls including raw product testing, Earthbound Farm has "had a positive on the finished product side," he said. The laboratory with which the company is working predicted that the processor would get positives regardless of upstream measures, but Mr. Daniels said that the company's procedures worked to identify and eliminate the problem. All producers need to conduct hazard analyses in the fields, he said, and the company's test-and-hold system for raw and finished products is an extremely important precaution for fresh-cut companies. In response to a question about irradiation as a possible kill step, Mr. Daniels replied that the process is not allowed in organic production. It is probably 10 years from being ready for leafy greens, but if it holds promise, "we will quickly change that regulation" to allow it. "A lot of our programs would go away if there was a single kill step," he added.
The good news is if any one of these companys, would have used Produce Safety & Securitys cost-effective common sense approach that provides effective removal of pathogens these issues would have not occurred. My concerns are that one area of the country caused all the other spinach growing areas a major loss of revenue because of lack of proper inspection and sanitation for the spinach. Mr. Daniels is 100% correct, with a single KILL STEP problems would be eliminated. Produce Safety and Security has a cost effective single KILL STEP process with a monitoring program for traceability. If the PDSS program had been implemented the monetary and creditability loss would not have occurred, stated Clarence W. Karney, CEO of Produce Safety & Security International Inc.
About Produce Safety & Security International, Inc.:
Produce Safety has developed and patented products for extending the shelf life of perishables. The EPA-registered products sanitize and disinfect against food-borne illness pathogens and disease-causing bacteria. This process will provide retail produce departments with reduced shrinkage, increase the bottom line and provide a fresher product for the consumer. The Company provides a range of options for retail stores, restaurants, cruise ship lines, disaster cleanups and municipal programs. Furthermore, the process incorporates a complete audit trail, an essential component for complying with government regulations in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Safe Harbor: Statements regarding financial matters in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends that such statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, technology efficacy and all other forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. The Company is a development stage company who continues to be dependent upon outside capital to sustain its existence. Since these statements (future operational results and sales) involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the Company's actual results may differ materially from expected results.
Clarence W. Karney Produce Safety & Security International, Inc. 2625 Queen Elaine Drive Lewisville, TX 75056 USA
Phone: 972-899-3828 Fax: 972-899-3837
Source: Produce Safety & Security International, Inc. Note: The following press release was submitted by: Produce Safety & Security International, Inc., and World Stock Wire, Inc. is not liable for the contents of this press release.
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