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March 18, 2016 CapitalPress.com 13 U.S. potato product exports see growth OSHA plans surprise By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press DENVER — U.S. pota- to product exports resumed growth during the irst seven months of Fiscal Year 2016 after dropping for the irst time in a decade during the previous iscal year, accord- ing to a recently released trade report. U.S. frozen and dehydrat- ed potato exports increased signiicantly from July 2015 year through January. Though fresh exports to Canada plum- meted, several foreign mar- kets also saw healthy growth in the fresh category. USPB Chief Marketing Of- icer John Toaspern attributes much of the improvement to his organization’s efforts to address foreign market con- cerns following disruptions caused by a labor slowdown at West Coast ports. “A lot of the decline last year was deinitely due to the port issues,” Toaspern said. “We’ve done a lot of work to regain those markets.” According to Global Trade Atlas, U.S. frozen exports during the seven months were up 10.81 percent, at 565,184 metric tons. Honduras and Guatemala were among the bright spots, with frozen ex- ports to those countries up roughly 30 percent at 2,112 metric tons and up 18.81 per- cent at 11,048 metric tons re- spectively. “Other important market Courtesy of U.S. Potato Board U.S. Potato Board promotional materials are displayed in Japan. The organization believes its efforts to restore foreign markets where spud shipments were disrupted by the recent labor slowdown at West Coast ports has helped to restore a positive export trend. growth has been occurring throughout Asia,” Toaspern said. “We’re recovering from last year and making market gains even beyond that.” Exports of dehydrated po- tatoes — the lone category to see a gain during the irst seven months of FY 2015 — continued positive movement through the same period in FY 2016, growing 17.43 percent overall to 84,323 metric tons, led by hefty gains in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Korea and the Philippines. Toaspern said the Philippines started producing snacks from dehy- drated potatoes, resulting in a 120 percent export increase to 5,282 metric tons. Fresh exports for the irst seven months of FY 2016 dropped by 8.36 percent to 223,153 metric tons. There was strong fresh growth in Mexico, where exports were up by 27 percent to 60,504 metric tons, and in Hondu- ras, where fresh exports rose 20.57 percent to 4,572 met- ric tons. Canada, however, bought 84,547 metric tons of fresh U.S. spuds, represent- ing a 21.41 percent decrease. Toaspern said Canadian growers increased their own fresh production, especially of chipping potatoes. Toaspern believes the gen- erally positive export trend conirms foreign markets are willing to pay a premium, despite the strong dollar, for high-quality potatoes, and that foreign restaurants and distributors value USPB’s marketing support. Idaho Potato Commission President and CEO Frank Muir said his organization is also active in foreign mar- kets and has opened access for Idaho fresh potatoes into the Philippines and Taiwan during the current iscal year. In Singapore and Malaysia, customers have Idaho potato logos wrapped on their supply trucks, he said. “It’s not a surprise,” Muir said of the export trend. “There was signiicant growth taking place internationally before the port slowdown that help back supply, but it didn’t hold back demand.” Lamb Weston spokeswom- an Shelby Stoolman said in- creasing demand is among the reasons her company plans to expand its Boardman, Ore., facility. “Last year was impacted heavily by the slowdown at the West Coast ports,” Stool- man said. “That said, we are encouraged by increased demand for fries and frozen potato products domestical- ly and internationally, which means we have a big opportu- nity to support our customers’ plans here and abroad.” FDA releases inal acrylamide guidance By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. potato industry lead- ers say the federal Food and Drug Administration’s recent release of inal guidance on managing for acrylamide — a potentially unhealthy chemical found in certain starchy foods cooked at high temperatures — should provide closure on an issue that once threatened their long-term proitability. Acrylamide, formed by a chemical reaction during fry- ing or baking, was discovered in food in 2002 and identiied during subsequent testing as a possible carcinogen, causing concern among regulators. The new guidance is fo- cused on french fries and po- tato chips, coffee and grain- based foods including cookies, crackers, breakfast cereals and toast. Public comments may be submitted at www.regulations. gov. The potato industry worked proactively with FDA, making acrylamide its No. 1 research priority, according to a website about a $7.8 million USDA Specialty Crop Research Ini- tiative acrylamide grant span- ning from September 2011 through Aug. 31, 2016. The grant funded a multi-state, cooperative effort to breed low-acrylamide varieties. The inal guidance, issued March 10, outlines nonbind- ing suggestions growers, manufacturers and food ser- vice operators may follow to reduce acrylamide accumula- tion. Industry sources say little changed in the inal document from a draft issued in Novem- ber 2013, and the standards are consistent with their current processing practices. The guidelines offer sugges- tions on reducing acrylamide formation through a variety of practices such as potato han- dling, storage temperature, fry and chip cutting, variety se- lection, trimming of defects, sprout management, frying temperature and recondition- ing, which entails warming spuds prior to processing to allow sugars to convert back to starch. “The original guidance wasn’t a surprise to anybody, and in many ways it relected the conversations the industry and FDA had in the years lead- ing up to that,” said Paul Bethke, a research plant physiologist with USDA’s Agricultural Re- search Service in Madison, Wis. Bethke said FDA’s guidance recognizes certain practices that lower acrylamide aren’t practical because they impair product quality. Jeanne Debons, executive director of the Potato Variety Management Institute, which oversees licensing of Northwest potato varieties, de- scribed the acrylamide issue as a “storm in a teacup.” Debons believes nonbinding recommendations are appropri- ate for acrylamide, which has never been deinitively clas- siied as a health risk, and the guidance demonstrates FDA is “closing the door on the acryl- amide story.” Washington State Universi- ty potato specialist Mark Pavek believes the low-acrylamide breeding effort, which produced varieties such as Payette Rus- set, fostered cooperation among programs. He said the industry strives to develop light-frying varieties with low sugars for improved color and storage. He said lowering sugars also lowers acrylamide potential. Simplot Plant Sciences spokesman Doug Cole was pleased that the inal guidance added language acknowledging the six biotech potato varieties his company has engineered with low acrylamide levels. “The potato industry was following the intent of the draft guidelines since they irst came out a few years ago, but it’s good to have them inalized,” Cole said. “We were pleased that FDA stated that new biotech varieties may ultimately provide the most effective solution for acrylamide reduction and should be consid- ered for adoption.” ag inspections in Idaho By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — Federal Occu- pational Safety and Health Administration managers plan to start random, surprise work- er-safety inspections of Idaho farms, dairies and ranches, based on concerns about recent agricultural workplace fatali- ties. Dave Kearns, area director of OSHA’s Boise ofice, said he’s making revisions to a draft inspection policy created by his staff. The policy will then be for- warded to OSHA’s Seattle of- ice for review by oficials and attorneys, and Kearns hopes to have the document in the hands of the agency’s national ofice for inal approval within a few months. “Most of the (agricultural) inspections we do now are in response to a tragic incident,” Kearns said, adding that com- plaints also occasionally trigger inspections. Kearns said there’s been a spike in Idaho’s agricultural deaths since 2012. Since last April, he said four of 10 OSHA-investigated workplace fatalities in Idaho have involved agriculture — an ATV roll-over, a feed wag- on backed over a dairy worker on an ATV, an 18-year-old day laborer succumbed to heat ex- posure while weeding a wheat ield and a worker drowned in a dairy lagoon. “It used to be there’d be one or two or maybe no agricul- tural deaths,” Kearns said. “A few (operations) may be put- ting forth real efforts at worker safety, but as a whole, the ag- ricultural community in Idaho has got a long ways to go make safe and healthy workplaces a part of their culture.” Kearns explained the poli- cy won’t represent a new rule, which would necessitate an ex- tensive public scoping process, but will rather be a “special em- phasis program” OSHA is au- thorized to create at the nation- al, regional or local level based on “hazards that are serious and need special attention.” No public comment will be tak- en on the inspection policy, which will apply to operations with more than 10 non-family workers, Kearns said. 13 th Annual Orchard, Nuts & Vines Special Section Capital Press Agriculture Weekly will publish a Special Section featuring orchard, nut and vine articles and advertising on April 15, 2016 By advertising in this Special Section, you’ll be reaching over 89,000 print and online readers in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington who make the buying decisions for your product or service! 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