Jensen

  • Cantaloupe moves through the system; Frontera CEO discusses company’s role in listeria outbreak

    Posted: November 28th, 2011 - 4:04pm by Doug Powell

    On Nov. 21, The Packer conducted an exclusive question-and-answer interview with Will Steele, president and CEO of Frontera Produce, Edinburg, Texas, the marketer of the listeria-tainted cantaloupes shipped by Jensen Farms, Holly, Colo. Below are some edited highlights from that interview.

    Q. Please explain Frontera Produce’s business relationship with Jensen Farms.

    Our role was that of a marketing agent, providing our expertise to find buyers and manage the sales paperwork and logistics for cantaloupe grown and packed by Jensen Farms.

    As part of our marketing services, we utilized our inventory control system in which every pallet of Jensen Farms cantaloupe marketed by Frontera was remotely entered into our database when it was harvested and shipped. This proved to be important in tracking the product to customers in our database because we had records of where each pallet came from and where Jensen Farms shipped it.

    Q. What are Frontera Produce’s food safety requirements and traceability systems? Have any changed since this outbreak?

    In the wake of this experience, we are examining, among other things, the role of audits. Third-party audits are an important and useful tool, but they are obviously not fail-safe. Audits provide baseline information on conditions at the time they are conducted. So we are looking at possible changes that might further enhance food safety. One area of focus is whether additional steps are needed to validate the audit findings regarding food safety protocols that are in place. Validation could be in the form of a follow-up audit, or perhaps other measures that will help provide additional assurance of food safety compliance.
    This is an industry-wide issue that all of us must deal with, so we are also talking with others in the produce industry and sharing our experience so that we can further our collective knowledge and understanding.

    Q. What’s your view on the lawsuits that have named Frontera as a defendant?

    First, it is important to remember that the greatest tragedy in all of this is the human one. And it is this human tragedy that drives us to continue to analyze every aspect of this unprecedented event in an attempt to prevent it from ever happening again.

    That there is litigation is not surprising; almost anytime there is an injury, a lawsuit will follow. In fact, it is to be expected. We have seen this again and again, where even companies that never saw or touched the product were drawn into litigation based on association or something other than actual wrong-doing. It is an unfortunate reality.

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    Food Safety Policy  |  0 Comments
    Cantaloupe, culture, food safety, frontera, jensen, Lawsuit, Listeria, policy
  • 23 dead, 1 miscarriage, 116 ill from listeria-in-cantaloupe; on-farm report still due

    Posted: October 12th, 2011 - 11:00pm by Doug Powell

    How long until it’s an Entertainment News headline:

    It’s the deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in 25 years! Here’s what celebrities are doing to protect themselves!

    As I told CBS Radio a couple of hours ago, I find top-10 lists of most-dead people by food distasteful; all outbreaks are tragic, especially when a bug like listeria preys on the most vulnerable in society.

    And the lists are so U.S.-centric.

    What about Ontario (that’s in Canada): 1985, 19 of 55 affected people at a London, nursing home died after eating sandwiches contaminated with E. coli O157. Or listeria in Maple Leaf deli meats in 2008 – 24 dead.

    Or Scotland (that’s over there). 1996, 22 dead and over 500 sick from E. coli O157 in roast beef sandwiches.

    Earlier today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that 23 people had died and 116 people had been confirmed as ill with any of the four outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes in cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Colorado. In addition, one woman pregnant at the time of illness had a miscarriage.

    The deadliest-outbreak-in-25-years headlines soon followed.

    The FDA and CDC have had teams in Jensen Farms fields and packing sheds, testing the soil, water and surfaces for clues. A report on the FDA's findings is anticipated in the coming weeks.

    About 800 laboratory-confirmed cases of Listeria infection are reported each year in the United States and typically 3 or 4 outbreaks are identified. The foods that typically cause these outbreaks have been deli meats, hot dogs, and Mexican-style soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. Produce is not often identified as a source, but sprouts caused an outbreak in 2009, and celery caused an outbreak in 2010.

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    Listeria  |  0 Comments
    Cantaloupe, Cdc, Colorado, Fda, food safety, jensen, Listeria, on-farm
  • 100 confirmed sick, 18 dead from listeria in cantaloupes; why and how it happened remains unconfirmed

    Posted: October 5th, 2011 - 5:54am by Doug Powell

    jensen.cantaloupe.jpg

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed that 100 persons infected with any of the four outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported to CDC from 20 states, including 18 deaths.

    Is food local when it’s distributed to 20 U.S. states?

    The cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Colorado near the Kansas border likes to bill itself as local and pesticide-free, but I’d rather buy listeria-free cantaloupe from almost anywhere. Geographical knowledge is no substitute for microbiological safety.

    U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said Tuesday that the agency is still investigating the cause of the outbreak. Officials have said they are looking at the farm’s water supply and possible animal intrusions among other things in trying to figure out how the cantaloupes became contaminated.

    What retailers bought these melons? Who did the food safety audits for those retailers that concluded thumbs up for these melons?

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    Listeria  |  0 Comments
    Cantaloupe, Cdc, Colorado, Fda, food safety, isteria, jensen, Water
  • Listeria found in Colorado farm’s cantaloupe, on packing equipment; 4 dead, 31 sick

    Posted: September 19th, 2011 - 7:41pm by Doug Powell

    jensen.cantaloupe.jpg

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today it found Listeria monocytogenes in samples of Jensen Farms’ Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupe taken from a Denver-area store and on samples taken from equipment and cantaloupe at the Jensen Farms’ packing facility. Tests confirmed that the Listeria monocytogenes found in the samples matches one of the three different strains of Listeria monocytogenes associated with the multi-state outbreak of listeriosis.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control updated the official outbreak count to 35 persons infected with the outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes, including four deaths, from 10 states.

    Jensen Farms voluntarily recalled its Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes a week ago in response to the multi-state outbreak of listeriosis. Cantaloupes from other farms in Colorado, including farms in the Rocky Ford growing area, have not been linked to this outbreak.

    Jensen Farms is helping federal and state authorities determine how the cantaloupes became contaminated.

    The FDA’s root-cause investigation and environmental assessment includes the on-site expertise of FDA and state of Colorado microbiologists, environmental health specialists, veterinarians and investigative officers. The experts conducting the assessment will analyze the evidence, determine the most likely cause of contamination and identify potential controls to help prevent contamination in the future. The FDA will use the findings to help inform agency policy regarding Listeria and produce food safety best practices.

    Jensen Farms shipped the recalled cantaloupes from July 29 through Sept. 10 to at least 17 states with possible further distribution.

    For additional information about the recalled products, including product labels: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm271879.htm.

    A table of cantaloupe- (or rock melon) related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/cantaloupe-related-outbreaks.

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    Listeria  |  0 Comments
    Cantaloupe, Cdc, Colorado, Fda, food safety, jensen, Listeria, rocky ford
  • 2 dead, 22 confirmed sick; multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to Rocky Ford cantaloupes from Jensen Farms

    Posted: September 15th, 2011 - 9:17am by Doug Powell

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported this morning that 22 persons infected with the outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported from 7 states. The number of infected persons identified in each state is as follows: Colorado (12), Indiana (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (4), Oklahoma (1), Texas (2), and West Virginia (1). Two deaths have been reported, one in Colorado and one in New Mexico.

    Collaborative investigative efforts of state, local, and federal public health and regulatory agencies have linked this outbreak to eating whole cantaloupe from Jensen Farms, of Granada, Colorado.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat Rocky Ford Cantaloupe shipped by Jensen Farms and to throw away recalled product that may still be in their home.
    Jensen Farms is voluntarily recalling Rocky Ford Cantaloupe shipped from July 29 through September 10, 2011, and distributed to at least 17 states with possible further distribution.

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    Listeria  |  1 Comment
    Cantaloupe, Colorado, food safety, jensen, Listeria