United Fresh President Encourages Congress to Support Industry’s Traceability Initiative

Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association, testified before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, on March 26 to address food safety in the United States, according to the association.

Stenzel spoke in support of a food traceability program, and urged Congress to support the industry’s efforts to develop a whole-chain traceability system, which the industry rolled out last year as the Produce Traceability Initiative. Stenzel also discussed a report of mock tracebacks that was released by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the association.

”Congress continues to view food safety reform as a top policy priority this year,” Stenzel said in a statement. “With the hundreds of recalls related to the peanut paste outbreak the past several months, traceability of all foods and food ingredients is now at the center of this Congressional debate. I’m pleased that Congress recognizes the produce industry’s strong voice in these deliberations, and we have a very good story to tell in produce traceability.”

To read Stenzel’s statements before the subcommittee, click here.