Jul 18, 2023CFIA report: 1 case of potato wart detected in PEI
The latest update from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s ongoing investigation into potato wart in Prince Edward Island has detected one case among more than 10,000 analyzed samples.
The most recent sampling in the investigation, ongoing since November 2021, covered the period from March 11 to June 23. Samplings from Jan. 1 to March 10 found no cases, while samplings from Oct. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022 and from July 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2022 each found one, according to agency’s website.
For the most recent time period, the CFIA collected 4,094 samples and analyzed 10,499, according to the website.
Greg Donald, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board, said in an email to saltwire.com that only four out of more than 45,000 samples collected since the investigation began have contained the fungus. Donald said the latest finding occurred in the same restricted field on the same farm where previous positive samples were found.
The samples were all near each other and related to the 2021 detection, he said.
The CFIA confirmed the presence of potato wart in two PEI fields in October 2021. Though strict regulatory measured were implemented, the U.S. closed its border to PEI potatoes on Nov. 22, 2021. Hundreds of millions of pounds of seed and table potatoes were destroyed in the province.
Imports from PEI resumed, with conditions excluding field-grown seed potatoes, on April 1, 2022.
While potato wart poses no threat to health or food safety, it does affect potato growers’ return by reducing yield and making potatoes unmarketable, according to the CFIA website.
Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, identified continued vigilance against potato wart as an organization priority during an interview with Spudman this spring.
“If potato wart were able to get established in a production area, it would change the U.S. potato industry overnight in a materially negative way,” Quarles said. “It would impact both interstate commerce as well as compromise all of our export markets.”
The next CFIA quarterly update is due in October.
“Given the scope and the number of associated fields, investigations will continue into 2023 until all samples are collected and analyzed,” the CFIA said on its website.
