WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Joseph Levitt, a Food and Drug Administration director, has notified Guatemala that of the seven farms inspected by the FDA in March, two would be allowed to export raspberries to the United States later this year, once the farms meet all the criteria of Guatemala's proposed model plan for the export of raspberries.
samples, supervision of farm workers, implementation of coding for traceback and security for flats and clamshells in transport.
According to Levitt, who is the director for the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the FDA's refusal to certify the other five Guatemalan farms was due to the fact that visiting FDA inspectors could not be assured of acceptable sanitation practices because harvesting was either not occurring or was operating at a low level at the time of the inspection.
