Grape Growers Ask EPA for Delay : Predict Crisis if Ruling on Chemical Levels Is Enforced

Grape growers say a major crisis is on hand for the San Joaquin Valley’s harvest if federal officials enforce a new environmental standard limiting sulfur dioxide levels on table grapes.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has set an interim tolerance level for sulphur dioxide on table grapes, saying no more than 10 parts per million of the chemical shall be on grapes sold in markets.

A few years ago, the federal Food and Drug Administration banned the use of sulphides in salad bars because of an adverse effect on chemically sensitive people. Sulfites help maintain freshness in fruits and vegetables. Sulfur dioxide has been used for 60 years to control bunch rot on grapes in cold storage.

Bruce Obbink, president of the California Grape Commission, said the state’s table grape business would suffer drastically without sulphur dioxide. The $550-million industry would have to reduce operations from nine months a year to five months, and that would reduce work for some 50,000 employees.

The grape commission and the Tree Fruit League have asked the EPA to postpone enforcement of the interim tolerance standard for this year’s crop. The growers suggested grocery stores post a sign saying the grapes may have been treated with the chemical “to ensure freshness.”

Obbink added later the industry needs about three more years to determine a permanent tolerance level for sulphur dioxide and give growers a chance to develop alternatives to using the chemical while the crop is in cold storage.

But the Food Marketing Institute has protested the grape industry’s idea of posting sulfur dioxide warning signs at store’s produce stands. Nancy Yanish of the institute said store owners who failed to post notices could be held liable if a customer has an adverse reaction to table grapes treated with the chemical.

Mitch Zeller of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that grocery signs should be in the form of a warning and suggested bunches with the chemical be labeled. He called posting the signs a last-resort option.

EPA requires that 75% of the grapes be tested for the chemical once moved out of cold storage, but Obbink said the sheer volume of the San Joaquin Valley’s harvest makes this impractical.

As the valley approaches peak harvest, 600 to 800 truckloads depart each day from some 181 ranches. Obbink said even a 5% sampling of the crop “would, at a minimum, severely retard the flow of these highly perishable table grape shipments to market.”