A big emphasis has been put on data sharing and collaboration as a means to address issues of food safety. California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) CEO Tim York said that it has been a cornerstone priority for industry members. Sharing information is also purportedly a primary concern for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, there has been somewhat of a disconnect in communicating information between federal agencies and the industry.
“We have to find a way that we can share data with them, but also them sharing data with us. They’ve got longitudinal studies underway in both California and Arizona, the results of which we have no idea where they are,” York explained. “So, if they’re not sharing information with us about their learnings either, we can’t help improve the industry. So, information flow has to be both ways, but it has to be within all segments of the FDA, not just one department.”
Data collection and advanced recordkeeping within the food supply chain have ramped up over the last decade. Increased regulatory requirements along with proactive industry efforts are collectively being put in place to prevent issues of contamination. But York believes that those efforts could be further supported with improved communication among entities. Data sharing creates a more collaborative environment and can help to bring safety advances to the food supply chain at a quicker pace.
“It has to be about prevention and sharing information about how we prevent contaminations. The most important piece we think is critical in that is data sharing,” said York. “So, its got to be about data; aggregating that not only as grower-shippers individually, but also as an industry to begin to understand those patterns. So, there’s a big effort at Western Growers behind data sharing, as well as at LGMA.”
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