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Survey Opportunity
Click here to take the survey and enter to win a $50 gift card
UC ANR and UC Davis are conducting a survey of consumers to identify which types of specialty Asian produce are almost always cooked before eating, so that Southeast Asian and other small-scale farmers can receive exemptions from federal food safety regulations for low-risk crops. We would appreciate your help in taking the survey and sharing it widely with consumers of these crops, so that we can provide data to the FDA on whether they are eaten cooked or raw.
Food safety regulations have exemptions for produce that is usually cooked instead of eaten raw, because the risk to consumers from human pathogens is much lower. Crops like potatoes, pumpkins, or lima beans that are almost always cooked before eating have a much lower risk than leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach that are frequently eaten raw. The FDA’s current list of “rarely consumed raw” produce does not include many types of produce that are culturally important to diverse communities of consumers across the US, because the FDA does not have data on how they are eaten. Because these crops are not on the list, small-scale farmers growing specialty produce cannot receive the exemptions that mainstream crops do, even if their crops are never eaten raw. We now have an opportunity to submit data to the FDA on additional crops that usually are cooked, pickled, or fermented to kill any disease organisms before eating. Data will be shared with the FDA to recommend additional culturally important crops to be added to the “rarely consumed raw” list, so that these crops can receive the same exemptions as mainstream “rarely consumed raw” crops under the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Disaster Preparedness
You can find more resources on information about how to stay prepared in case of disasters here.
COVID-19 & Food Safety Resources
UC Davis, UC Davis Food Safety - COVID19 Food Safety Resources: Consumers, Food Service, Growers, Industry, Retail
Community Resources from UC ANR - Coronavirus and COVID-19
North Carolina State Extension - COVID-19 Food Safety Resources
Cornell University Food Industry Resources - Institute for Food Safety at Cornell University
Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety - COVID19 Resources
CDC - Coronavirus COVID19
FDA - Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Frequently Asked Questions
FDA - FAQs on Food Safety and Coronavirus Disease(COVID-19) for Industry
Food & Covid19: FoodCoVNET - Providing science-based strategies and practices to reduce the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19 on the food sector, NC State Extension
Read more at: https://foodcovnet.ces.ncsu.edu/welcome-to-foodcovnet/
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