As previously reported, on July 30, 2020, FDA worked with EPA to release a protocol to evaluate the efficacy of antimicrobial pesticides in agricultural water. The protocol established an agricultural water panel assay that companies could use to test the capability of their water treatment processes to combat strains of Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli frequently responsible for foodborne illnesses.

On May 17, 2022, FDA announced that it had formally updated its protocol to reflect two earlier changes that had been made since the protocol was first released.  In April 2021, FDA updated the protocol to allow companies and other agricultural water stakeholders to use data that did not comply with good laboratory practices (non-GLP) in their submissions, provided that the submissions accurately represented how the study differed from GLP standards. This change was intended to give companies and agricultural stakeholders access to more laboratories.  In April 2022, FDA amended the contact time in the protocol, changing the maximum from 1 minute to “up to 5 minutes.” This change was intended to meet current practical and scientific needs.

The changes are now reflected in the Efficacy Protocol and EPA Protocol Review although this document continues to be dated April 29, 2020.