The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR) seeks to prevent foodborne illness by identifying possible contamination sources on the farm, including water. Farmers who fall under the rule are required to collect 20 samples per agricultural water source over 2–4 years, and five annual samples thereafter to calculate E. coli concentrations. These water testing requirements place financial and time burdens on farmers. In a recently published article, “Impact of irrigation water type and sampling frequency on Microbial Water Quality Profiles required for compliance with U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule standards”, CONSERVE researchers evaluated if the number of samples required could be reduced while still arriving at the same decision about compliance with the PSR. The study found that larger deviance of a water source’s E. coli concentration from the PSR standards (either higher or lower) meant that less samples were needed to make the same compliance decision as was reached with the currently required 20 samples. For example, 99% agreement was obtained with a sub-sample of five when the absolute difference between E. coli concentrations and PSR thresholds was ≥2.6 and 4.5 log CFU/100 mL E. coli, respectively. These findings could contribute to the FDA’s recently proposed revisions to the FSMA PSR pre-harvest agricultural water requirements.
