Salmonella, lettuce, and lousy public reporting; silence of the Salmonella
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in her Sept. 11 address to the United Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Public Policy Conference that FDA’s intent is to keep unsafe foods from reaching the market and part of that new push will be accomplished by expanding outreach.
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Guess it didn’t reach all the lettuce growers. Or the consuming public.
That’s because The Oregonian reports today that federal and state health authorities are investigating a salmonella outbreak that peaked in Oregon in August.
This is the middle of September. This is not prevention. Or good news.
The good news is that it is over, said William Keene, senior epidemiologist at the Public Health Division in Oregon.
He said the first cases surfaced nationwide in mid-July and trailed off a month later.
At least 124 were sickened across the country, with a clustering of cases in the West.
Two people got so sick they had to be hospitalized, and one had severe symptoms, Keene said. They have now been released from the hospital. He said no one died in Oregon or elsewhere in connection with the outbreak.
Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration still do not know exactly what poisoned people, though shredded lettuce is a leading suspect, Keene said.
The silence of the Salmonella. It would help, as with the Salmonella in produce outbreak last summer, or the listeria in Canadian cold cuts last fall, if public health types would clearly articulate, when they go public and why. And let everyone see those guidelines.
Greens and melons and tomatoes - oh my. Will new guidelines make produce safer?
Last Friday, U.S. regulatory types announced plans to increase testing of beef trim for E. coli O157:H7 and to strengthen safety protocols for fresh fruits and vegetables. The former got lots of attention, especially with a new Salmonella outbreak that has sickened dozens and is linked to ground beef; the latter, not so much.
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Fresh fruits and vegetables are one of, if not the most, significant sources of foodborne illness today in the U.S. – and it’s been that way for over a decade. As consumers increase per capita consumption of fresh vegetables, methods of handling, processing, packaging and distributing produce locally and internationally are receiving more attention in terms of identifying and controlling microbiological, chemical and physical hazards.
That was essentially the prelude for FDA publishing its 1998 Guidance for Industry: Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. We took those guidelines, as well as others, and created an on-farm food safety program for all 220 growers producing tomatoes and cucumbers under the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers banner. And set up a credible verification system.
So why did regulators and industry make such a big deal about commodity-specific guidelines for tomatoes, melons and leafy greens that were published in the federal register last Friday – in 2009?
I looked at the 2009 CSGs and the 1998 FDA guidance document – and I can’t see much of a difference in the on-farm stuf. Maybe I’m slow on the uptake; maybe guidelines are meaningless without implementation and verification; maybe growers keep asking for government babysitters so when the next outbreak happens, they can say, but we followed FDA guidelines (good luck with that). One of the notices said the draft guidances were FDA's first step toward setting enforceable standards for produce safety, so maybe it’s some lawmaking thing.
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Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association, said in a statement released July 31,
“Our industry has worked hard since 2004 to develop commodity-specific guidance documents in each of these areas, and now strongly supports FDA taking these efforts to a new level.”
2004? Why not 1998? And do the new and supposedly improved guidelines mean fewer sick people? No. Not unless an individual grower or groups of growers, or associations, take serious steps to implement and verify, something could have been done in 1998 and does not need government oversight. We did it – how hard can it be?
It’s not, and lots of growers do it on a daily basis. So maybe the talk from Washington was rightly shrugged off as no biggie.
But why did Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in making the announcement, choose to highlight the “vital role” consumers play in ensuring the safety of the fresh produce they eat and offer a laundry list of questionable food safety advice that would do little to reduce contamination of tomatoes, leafy greens and melons that happened in the field? Especially with all the caveats featured in the introduction to the tomato commodity-specific guide, included below.
This guidance is intended to assist domestic firms and foreign firms exporting tomatoes to the United States (U.S.) by recommending practices to minimize the microbial food safety hazards of their products throughout the entire tomato supply chain. It identifies some, but not all, of the preventive measures that these firms may take to minimize these food safety hazards. This guidance document is not intended to serve as an action plan for any specific operation but should be viewed as a starting point. We encourage each firm from the farm level through the retail or foodservice level to assess the recommendations in this guidance and tailor its food safety practices to its particular operations by developing its own food safety program based on an assessment of the potential hazards that may be associated with its operations.
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In addition, effective management of food safety requires that responsibility be clearly established among the many parties involved in the production of fresh produce. There may be many different permutations of ownership and business arrangements during the growing, harvesting packing, processing, and distribution of fresh and fresh-cut tomatoes. For this reason, it is important to identify which responsibilities rest with which parties, and to ensure that these responsibilities are clearly defined. For example, growers commonly contract with third parties to harvest their crops. Also, it is important that growers clearly identify which party is responsible for each applicable provision of this guidance, such as providing adequate toilet and handwashing facilities and worker training. Approaches to addressing responsibilities include delegating them to individuals within the firm and formally addressing them in contractual agreements when third parties are involved. Each party should be aware of its responsibilities to ensure microbial food safety hazards for tomatoes are minimized at each stage of the supply chain.
The commodity specific guidelines are available for leafy greens, tomatoes and melons. Guidance, however, does not mean responsibility. That’s up to industry, and it begins on the farm.
K-State food safety types contribute to new book on causes, solutions to produce contamination
Anyone can bitch. My colleagues and I try to provide solutions.
So Ben, Casey and I jumped at the chance to write the concluding chapter for a new book, "The Produce Contamination Problem: Causes and Solutions," slated for release July 15 from Academic Press.
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"We should eat fresh produce because it's good for us, but it's also a significant cause of foodborne illness," said Doug Powell, an associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that when leafy vegetables are counted with fruits and nuts, they account for the majority of foodborne disease outbreaks in 2006. Together, these types of produce are blamed for 33 percent of outbreaks. In comparison, poultry was the culprit of 21 percent of outbreaks that year.
One of the main things the authors convey is that the tomato grown in your home garden is as likely to make you sick as is the tomato purchased at a big-box grocery store or discount chain.
"Everyone is big on their local garden, but it's no different whether I have a thousand acres or a little plot in my backyard," Powell said. "You have to keep dog, cat and bird poop out of the product you eat."
Although factory farms often take the blame for outbreaks, Powell points out that the contaminated spinach circulating in 2006 came from a farm with a 70-head cattle operation.
"It was nothing near to being a factory farm, but cattle were kept next to the spinach," he said.
"With produce, anything that comes in contact with it has the potential to contaminate, whether it's people's hands, irrigation water or manure.”
The authors suggest that changes in food safety practices have to begin with producers.
"Other than asking questions about food safety practices, there isn't much consumers can do," Powell said. "Contamination has to be prevented on the farm."
FDA chief focuses on produce safety
Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the new chief of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said a couple of weeks ago she was going to focus on preventing contamination of fresh fruit and vegetables.
That’s good, because this year has brought a new crop of unrealistic expectations about the microbial safety of fresh produce, created primarily by the largest producer of fresh produce, California.
While the industry is busy blowing itself over the steps it finally took after the 29th outbreak involving leafy greens, a cone of silence has apparently fallen over any outbreak involving fresh produce. How hard is it to traceback lettuce? Apparently that depends on who wants to know the answer.
Meanwhile, a bunch of Taco Bell franchisees won damages from their insurance company over a 2006 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak involving California bagged lettuce when the judge ruled that the lettuce should be considered an ingredient, which would be covered by the policy, instead of a product, which would not be covered.
The Onion, in this satirical-but-a-little-to-close-to-reality piece, has the perfect solution for Taco Bell.
Outstanding achievement in the leafy greens field of excellence
There must be awards for everything.
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Whenever a university or company talks about recreating itself to be more excellent, I’m reminded of Homer Simpson winning the First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
Homer is awarded $2,000 and agrees to loan the money to his bitter half-brother, Herb Powell (no relation) who becomes rich again by making a machine to translate a baby's babbling into actual English. Amy figures she’s already mastered the sounds of baby Sorenne and can differentiate the cries for “I need to be fed” and “I just had a huge dump.”
With that in mind, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was honored yesterday with the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement “Golden Checkmark” Award for his leadership and support of mandatory government inspection of food safety systems within the produce industry.
Joe Pezzini, a leafy greens farmer and chairman of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Board said that with the creation of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, a system is now in place which involves mandatory government inspections to ensure food safety practices are being followed by California leafy greens farmers. Since the LGMA’s inception in April 2007 nearly 1,000 audits of California leafy greens farms have been conducted by government inspectors.
The same government inspectors that visited Peanut Corporation of America in Georgia? Or William Tudor’s butcher shop in Wales?
I thought it was the producer’s job to provide a safe product, not the babysitter’s.
UK Subway worker filmed putting lettuce leaves up his nose in sandwich shop... before putting them back on display
A sandwich bar worker was sacked after footage of him stuffing lettuce leaves up his nose - before he put them back in their serving tray - was posted on YouTube.
Except I can’t find the video, so there’s just this crappy picture (if someone has it, please send along the url).
The Daily Mail reports that Richard Shannon, who also put salad leaves in his mouth before spitting them out, was arrested after a 'disgusted' customer recognised the 22-year-old on the Internet.
Shannon was arrested after the irate woman went to a branch of Subway in Brownhills, West Midlands, and hurled a chair at him, Walsall Magistrates' Court heard today.
The defendant admitted a single charge of contaminating or interfering with goods with intent to cause economic loss, alarm or injury.
He claimed the incident, filmed by a friend on a mobile phone early last year, had been a prank and that the lettuce, which went back into a tray used to make customers' sandwiches, had been discarded.
N.Y. Times food safety editorial misses the point
The New York Times wrote in an editorial Saturday that the Food and Drug Administration is right to focus on imported foods and it is encouraging that the agency has already hired staff for new offices in China and India that will try to ensure the safety of food products before they are exported.
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Yes, imported foods can be problematic. But so can homegrown foods. The silence surrounding California lettuce as a possible source of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in Michigan and Ontario is beyond disturbing. And the more fingers are pointed to imports, the fewer questions are asked about domestic supplies.
The Times did get this part of their editorial right:
“The goal is to root out tainted food — whether produced abroad or in this country — at the earliest stages of the production and distribution process while being ready to respond quickly if pathogens start reaching consumers.”
They just couldn’t follow through with a meaningful statement and say, providing safe food actually depends on a culture of food safety from farm-to-fork, wherever that food comes from.
Silence of the lettuce
If there’s one result from the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak this summer it’s this: public health types sure are reluctant to finger fresh produce in outbreaks of foodborne illness.
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On Tuesday, a spokesman for the bureaucrats club know as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed they are looking to U.S. suppliers of E. coli-infected romaine lettuce that has been linked to 153 illnesses across southern Ontario, “but he had few other details.”
On Monday, something called the Produce Safety Project, an Initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University concluded in a report that weaknesses in food safety policy, organization and communications were all displayed during this summer's outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul.
The report, "Breakdown: Lessons to Be Learned from the 2008 Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak," represents an in-depth review of the public record of last summer's Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak that caused illnesses in more than 1,400 people across the country. For a full copy of the report and the executive summary click here: http://www.producesafetyproject.org/reports?id=0001
Highlights and recommendations from the report include:
The need for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use its existing statutory authorities to establish mandatory and enforceable safety standards for fresh produce. While FDA officials said the outbreak showed the need for these standards, they said Congress needs to pass legislation to grant it explicit authority to do so. However, the report notes that FDA has already used existing authorities to put in place preventive safety standards for seafood in 1995 and for juice in 2001.
The need for organizational reforms throughout the public health system for a more coordinated outbreak response. The report raises questions about how timely and effectively data was shared between public health agencies and if it contributed to a delayed identification of jalapeno and serrano peppers as a vehicle for Salmonella Saintpaul.
The need to have established and unified risk communication plans in place before an outbreak. The report documents "dueling" public health messages from various agencies announcing the outbreak, and questions why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its presentation of data numerous times in the middle of the outbreak.
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I haven’t read the report in detail but will get to it. And while everyone is pointing fingers, recall that epidemiology is a messy thing, but it can prevent people from barfing. Self-censorship could be worse.
Both CFIA and FDA need to establish clear and transparent protocols on when to go public in outbreaks of foodborne illness. No one will be happy, but it will provide a basis for discussion and a way to move forward; once it’s written down, it can be improved.
E. coli O157:H7 outbreak links point to lettuce
Two local health units said today that lettuce – specifically Romaine lettuce –was the common factor in an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to food service operations in four southern Ontario towns that has sickened 130 people.
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency responded by saying,
“Canadians are reminded that the best way to prevent foodborne illness is by handling their food safely. … Canadians can also refer to CFIA’s detailed four point plan to prevent E. coli in the home.”
All of the people got sick at restaurants or cafeterias – not in their homes. And contamination of lettuce and other fresh produce needs to be prevented on the farm – there is little consumers or food service can do when contaminated product arrives.
S. Ontario E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks linked; produce eyed
There are now 24 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 in the southern Ontario towns of Niagara, Burlington, Guelph and Waterloo, with some of the cases sharing the same genetic fingerprint.
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Another 64 suspected cases are being investigated.
Dr. Doug Sider of Niagara Region Public Health said,
"It seems likely there was contaminated produce in the commercial market being distributed to restaurants back to the mid-part of October.”
In Waterloo Region, two high-school students contracted the bacteria and public health officials expect to keep the cafeteria at St. Mary's High School in Kitchener closed for a few more days.
The region's associate medical officer of health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, said provincial investigators are studying whether the outbreak is linked to romaine lettuce.
University of Guelph spokesperson Chuck Cunningham said "as a precaution" the university has removed lettuce from the main University Centre food court, cafeterias in residences and the Creelman dining hall. That's because lettuce is part of the probe by public health and the provincial Ministry of Health, he added.
Lettuce or salad source for S. Ontario E. coli outbreak
Dr. Doug Sider, Niagara Region’s associate medical officer of health said a food supply problem likely led to the spread of E. coli O157:H7 that has made 46 people sick and caused Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Little Red Rooster to voluntarily close its doors Oct. 24, and Welland’s M. T. Bellies Tap & Grillhouse to close its kitchen on Oct. 29.
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Sider said that extensive interviews with dozens of people who ate at Little Red Rooster, including 80 people who did not become sick, suggest some type of contaminated lettuce or salad component is to blame, adding,
“All of the evidence is pointing to the fact that the restaurants were, in a way, innocent bystanders of probably some contaminated produce that was distributed.”
Another 28 people in Burlington have fallen ill in an E. coli outbreak primarily linked to Johnathan’s Family Restaurant on Fairview Street. Three cases are confirmed E. coli O157:H7, and one has a similar “fingerprint” or molecular makeup to several cases in Niagara.
Sider was further cited as saying the three affected restaurants do not share a common food supplier, which is puzzling to investigators, adding,
“That’s why we’re scratching our heads and looking farther upstream. You know, could it be a more central distributor? Places like the Ontario Food Terminal (in Toronto), where a lot of regional or local suppliers buy their produce. … The fact that we’ve got these sort of localized areas with a number of people who became ill, frankly, it’s perplexing. I can’t explain it at this point in time.”
As I’ve said before, there are no guidelines – at least not publicly available guidelines -- on when to go public. Federal agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency must come clean with the public and industry and articulate the basis for public notification, or even restaurant closures, during outbreaks of foodborne illness. Until then local health units are left cleaning up the mess. Good for Dr. Sider for clearly articulating the process.
131 sick from E. coli linked to Harvey's in North Bay, Canada
The North Bay Parry Sound District health unit reports there are now a total of 131 cases of which 22 are lab confirmed for E coli O157:H7, and 22 people are still under investigation.
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The investigation is localized to Harvey’s Restaurant on Algonquin Avenue in North Bay. Included are cases being investigated by 4 other health units.
The people who are ill range from 1 to 84 years old. Symptoms of illness from E. coli O157:H7 include diarrhea which may be bloody, stomach cramps, and/or vomiting and possibly a fever. Anyone suffering with these symptoms is advised to seek medical attention.
Dr. Catherine Whiting, Medical Officer of Health, stresses “that people who are ill with E. coli must take precautions to prevent the spread of the bacteria to other people. Thorough hand washing, using soap and hot running water, particularly after toileting, before any food contact, or changing diapers is a must.”
As I told the Toronto Globe and Mail, the source could have been contaminated meat coupled with a failure in cooking, fresh produce such as lettuce used in burgers and salads, or an employee.
“Just because it's a Harvey's, you can't assume it's the hamburger,” said Doug Powell, associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University. “It could be a fresh product, something that's not cooked and it could be distributed to other places.”
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It's important for health officials to figure out the source of the problem quickly so they can reduce the risk to others if necessary, he said.
However, for 131 to be sick from a restaurant that company president Rick McNabb said serves at least 300 meals daily suggests a fairly massive level of contamination.
There’s a lot of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks right now. I’m sure public health types are looking for DNA fingerprint matches and will publicize results as soon as they are available.
Lettuce linked to 36 ill in Michigan, 3 in Ontario, came from California
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that state agriculture officials say the tainted iceberg lettuce that has been linked to 36 E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Michigan and 3 in Ontario originated in California before being shipped to Michigan.
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Aunt Mid’s Produce of Detroit was identified as one of the local suppliers. The company immediately stopped its lettuce distribution, said Philip Riggio, chief executive officer, and had its supply and processing facilities tested by outside experts. The tests found no evidence of contamination.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture also tested Aunt Mid’s lettuce, with no findings of E. coli, but, “we never had product available that was tested from the outbreak timeframe, primarily due to the perishable nature of the product we dealt with,” said Jennifer Holton, MDA spokesperson.
A Michigan State University student sickened by E. coli-tainted lettuce is suing Aunt Mid’s. Samantha Steffen of East Lansing began suffering from bloody diarrhea and was hospitalized with dehydration in mid-September.
“At this point, based on testing…I don’t believe the lawsuit has any merit,” said Riggio.
Canadian food safety bureaucrats continue to stumble -- and more people are sick
I started FSnet, the food safety news, shortly after the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak in Jan. 1993. Sure, Al Gore hadn’t invented the Internet yet, but those of us in universities had access, and I started distributing food safety stories.
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It all seems sorta quaint now, what with Google alerts and blogs and RSS feeds, but my goal was straightforward: during the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak, a number of spokesthingies said, they didn’t know E. coli O157:H7 was a risk, they didn’t know that Washington State had raised its recommended final cooking temperature for ground beef, they didn’t know what was going on.
So FSnet was conceived and made widely available so that no one could legitimately say, they didn’t know.
Yet that’s exactly what federal bureaucrats in Canada said last night when questioned about the delay in warning those in southwestern Ontario that lettuce from Aunt Mid’s in Detroit, implicated in a large Michigan-based E. coli O57:H7 outbreak that has stricken at least 34, had made its way across the border.
And now at least two people in Ontario have tested positive for the same strain of E. coli O57:H7.
David Musyj, president and chief executive officer of the Windsor (Ontario) Regional Hospital, said last night that authorities in Michigan issued a public-health alert about the link to Aunt Mid’s iceberg on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency didn’t bother notifying Windsor health officials until Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008.
"What happened between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1? Clearly there is a communication gap that occurred. I want an investigation to be launched into this to find out why there was a communication gap, whether it was our CFIA or whether it was the State of Michigan."
Dustin Pike, a spokesman for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, said in an e-mail yesterday that the Public Health Agency of Canada notified the CFIA of the E. coli outbreak in Michigan potentially linked to the lettuce on Tuesday, and after determining that the product had been imported into Canada, the CFIA contacted Windsor health authorities the following morning. …
Davendra Sharma, a food-safety recall specialist at the CFIA, said the agency acted promptly when it heard of the outbreak to identify who in Canada purchased the product and to notify Windsor officials.
Again, I started FSnet all those years ago so bureaucrats and others couldn’t say, I didn’t know.
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The Michigan outbreak was first publicly reported on Sept. 16, 2008. Lettuce was identified as the primary suspect on Friday, Sept. 26 2008. Why it took until Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 for someone at Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to notice there was an outbreak next door in product that could be shipped to Canada is baffling.
Especially because of all the bureaucrats that read FSnet. According to tonight’s numbers, 27 people at PHAC, 149 people at Health Canada, and 316 people at CFIA receive FSnet. That’s almost 500 people, and no one noticed?
Tonight, test results have, unfortunately, revealed that two cases of E. coli O157:H7 in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, are of the same strain identified in 38 cases in the United States. All of the cases are thought to be linked to shredded iceberg lettuce distributed by Aunt Mid's Produce Company. This product is distributed in five pound industrial bags to institutions such as hospitals and long-term care homes, as well as restaurants in southwestern Ontario.
Musyj of the Windsor hospital captures the failings of CFIA when he says:
"Once something is thought of seriously enough to raise a red flag, then you better call everyone affected by the red flag. You can't wait for a death to happen to notify everyone."
Although that seems to have been the CFIA policy with listeria: with 20 dead and counting, it’s a bad policy.
CFIA, what is your policy on going public with information that can prevent illness? Is your primary priority to protect public health? If so, can you provide evidence to back such a claim?
And how can any of you say you didn’t know?
Oh, and for those who see salvation in a single food inspection agency, as is often discussed in the U.S., please notice the dysfunctional mess that is CFIA.
New food safety infosheet -- Lettuce linked to E. coli O157 outbreak
Last week, an outbreak of E. coli O157 in Michigan was linked to bagged, industrial-sized packages of iceberg lettuce distributed to institutions and restaurants throughout the state, according to Michigan's Department of Community Health (MDCH). 34 illnesses in Michigan have been linked to this outbreak, as well as illnesses in IL, OH, NY and OR. MDCH suggests that the outbreak is associated with eating lettuce at a facilities supplied by Aunt Mid's Produce Company, a Detroit-based wholesale distributor.
In a press release yesterday, Aunt Mid's Produce Company reported that they hired an outside laboratory to test products and samples from their facility, and that the results from the tests "prove there is NO CONTAMINATION in Aunt Mid's products."
Strong words, especially since the outbreak has been linked to products that were consumed between September 8 and 19.
This outbreak is the focus of the newest Food Safety Infosheet, and can be found here.
Lettuce linked to Michigan E. coli O157:H7 outbreak; MSU needs to check its food safety facts
On the same day that congressional investigators cited shoddy oversight of produce processing operations, wholesale, bagged iceberg lettuce appears to be the culprit in the Michigan E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that has sickened at least 26 people.
“Some of the 26 Michigan cases consumed shredded or chopped iceberg lettuce in restaurants or institutions purchased from Aunt Mid’s Produce Company, a Detroit-based wholesale distributor; and other distributing outlets could be identified. Product trace back and additional tests results are still in progress.
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“Our top priority at the Michigan Department of Community Health is to protect the public,” said Dr. Gregory Holzman, chief medical executive for MDCH. “We appreciate all of the assistance from Aunt Mid’s. They have been very helpful in this investigation. We want to ensure that the public’s health and well-being is protected. Even though the investigation is ongoing, available evidence is strongly pointing to iceberg lettuce.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if just one public health official in Canada had a similar statement – our top priority is to protect public health – during the listeria outbreak that has killed at least 18?
Although I do have some concerns about statements from Michigan State University physician Beth Alexander, who tonight said,
“We will continue to be as cautious as possible, until this issue is completely resolved.”
This is the same MSU physician Beth Alexander who said on Sept 16, 2008,
“Generally, the infection isn’t serious. It’s usually caused by food or water that has been contaminated with that bacteria.”
The eight MSU students who were hospitalized probably thought it was serious.
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Further, a press release from MSU tonight said,
“The one food item typically associated with E. coli outbreaks is undercooked hamburger. Health officials advise all chefs to cook their hamburgers until the juice runs clear.”
I’m not sure what that has to do with lettuce. And color is a lousy indicator for judging whether meat is done or not – a digital, tip-sensitive thermometer is a must. Cooking until the juices run clear seems reckless rather than cautious.
Alexander also stressed that thorough hand washing remains the most effective way of fighting communicable diseases, and,
“Always wash your hands before preparing any foods. Make sure your countertops are clean and don’t do any food preparation if you are sick.”
Again, I’m not sure what this has to do with lettuce. Doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the ability of MSU food service to provide safe food – no matter how much Spartan spirit they have. Maybe MSU should be examining their food procurement policies. If this is what a top-10 land grant university produces, maybe those rankings don’t mean too much.
A table of at least 28 previous North American outbreaks of shiga-toxin producing E. coli, like O157:H7, is available at:
http://foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=903
Strict safety guidelines enforced as produce travels from Mexico
“In December, officials took a sample for testing from a 5,500-pound load of Mexican basil moving through the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego. The basil continued on to its destination and was sold to restaurants and other customers in California, Texas and Illinois the next day. When the test results came back two weeks later, they suggested salmonella contamination, sparking a late recall.”
It's much better to design safety into all operations, beginning on the farm.
Glenn Fry helps run Taylor Farms de Mexico's new $14 million plant in San José Iturbide, Mexico. He picked the land where it sits, designed just about every facet of it, and he manages more than 800 workers who plant, harvest and package produce – including lettuce, onions and broccoli – for export to the U.S.Today’s story says that Taylor Farms is just one of a handful of U.S. companies lured by Mexico's ideal year-round growing climate, proximity to Texas, low labor costs and plentiful workforce.
During a recent lettuce harvest, quality-control supervisor Laura Patino pointed to an aide who monitors workers coming out of the mobile toilets at the end of the fields to make sure they wash their hands before returning to work.
"Many of our workers don't even have toilets at home, so this is new to them," Ms. Patino explains. "We've literally taught many of them how to go to the restroom. It's that basic."
The lettuce field – owned by Oscar A. Bitar Macedo and leased by Taylor – is fenced off from outside "contamination." Heavy strips of yellow plastic keep out dogs, cattle and other livestock.
Mr. Bitar, owner of Rancho Don Alberto, leases all of his 100 hectares (about 247 acres) to Taylor. And he's responsible for maintenance, water wells, monthly water testing, fencing, security guards and, yes, even toilet paper. …
Within two hours, 24 boxes, each holding about 850 pounds of lettuce, are transported to Taylor's plant a few miles down the road for the first of several safety checks.
At the entrance, 19-year-old Efigenia Rosas checks the boxes to make sure they're labeled with bar codes identifying the owner's farm, crew supervisor, field and time of harvest – a crucial step in the process. If a consumer later finds a problem, Taylor can trace the produce back to the field and farmer. …
At 6 p.m., driver Roman Ayala, an employee of Flensa Trucking, begins the drive north on Mexico's Highway 57. He's in no rush because he has no chance of getting to Nuevo Laredo before Customs shuts down the bridge at 11 p.m. And it won't reopen until 8 a.m., something that frustrates Mr. Fry to no end.
"How can the U.S. government be serious about food safety when they shut down the border overnight and perishable goods have to sit there and wait?" he asks.
There is also a good video overview of the lettuce harvesting procedures available along with the story at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/mexico/stories/063008dningproducttaylor.40d72a3.html
E. coli O157 outbreak in Sweden associated with locally produced lettuce
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Soderstrom et al. do a nice job in the current Foodborne Pathogens and Disease describing a 2005 outbreak of E. coli O157 in Sweden."A total of 135 cases were recorded, including 11 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome. The epidemiological investigations implicated lettuce as the most likely source of the outbreak, with an OR of 13.0 (CI 2.94–57.5) in the case–control study. The lettuce was irrigated by water from a small stream, and water samples were positive for Stx 2 by PCR. The identical VTEC O157 Stx 2 positive strain was isolated from the cases and in cattle at a farm upstream from the irrigation point."
Watch that irrigation water.
Salmonella in tomato toll rises to 138; E. coli in lettuce outbreak appears over
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that tomatoes grown in Texas, California, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina appear to be blameless. Those imported from Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico also did not appear to be the source.
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The FDA said preliminary investigations suggest that raw red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes are the source of the problem.Meanwhile, the Washington Health Department said an E. coli outbreak that sickened at least nine people in Pierce and Thurston counties is apparently over and that there have been no new cases since May 29.
A spokesman, Donn Moyer, said the infection apparently came from romaine lettuce that was served at schools or restaurants. Moyer says health officials haven't been able to identify the source for sure, although the Food and Drug Administration is still investigating.
E. coli O157:H7, possibly in romaine lettuce, sickens 9 in Washington State
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The Washington State Department of Health said today that nine confirmed cases of E. coli infection found in Thurston and Pierce counties have been traced to romaine lettuce and a tenth case may be linked but was not tested.Health Department spokesman Tim Church says five of the victims were hospitalized, but all have been released.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is tracing the source of the contaminated lettuce.
A table of known outbreaks of verotoxigenic E. coli -- including but not limited to E. coli O157:H7 -- associated with fresh spinach and lettuce is available at http://foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=903.
UPDATE: The Department of Health says nine confirmed cases of E.coli infection found in north Thurston and south Pierce counties have been traced to bagged, commercial romaine lettuce.
Health officials say it's not the same type of lettuce you would buy in a grocery store.
Taco John's E. coli lettuce grown next to Calif. dairy farm
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The report does not definitively state how the lettuce was contaminated but said water contaminated by manure from two nearby dairies could be a possible source.Wegis Ranch uses manure water to irrigate some fields where animal feed is grown, according to the report. It said lettuce linked to the E. coli outbreak was grown directly across from two of those fields.
In addition, the ranch’s irrigation system may have allowed manure water to taint freshwater used to irrigate fields where lettuce was grown, the report concluded.
E.coli samples from the ranch and dairies genetically matched the strain found in the tainted lettuce. The dairies were Maya and West Star North.
The next day, Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had published guidelines that suggested employees of fresh-cut fruit and vegetable processors wash their hands to help stop the spread of contamination.
Yes., handwashing is important. So is not growing fresh product in cow shit.
Don't eat poop.
Listeria found in lettuce at central Florida market
News from Orlando, where Amy and I arrived last night for some work and play, and where the Florida Department of Agriculture found traces of listeria on California lettuce at the Dr. Phillips Boulevard Fresh Market store in town.A Fresh Market release said, "We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure our stores are taking all necessary precautions."
Fresh Market shopper Lori Pinner said, "I really find it hard to believe. I have shopped here so much, and everything we have ever gotten has been really fresh. We've never gotten sick."
Shopper Robin Smith said, "You never know with anything. You just have to trust the store."
Canadian E. coli O157:H7 find prompts Dole to recall Hearts Delight salad in U.S.
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Dole Fresh Vegetables is voluntarily recalling all salad bearing the label "Dole Hearts Delight" sold in the U.S. and Canada with a "best if used by (BIUB)" date of September 19, 2007, and a production code of "A24924A" or "A24924B" stamped on the package. The "best if use by (BIUB)" code date can be located in the upper right hand corner of the front of the bag. The salad was sold in plastic bags of 227 grams in Canada and one-half pound in the U.S., with UPC code 071430-01038.To date, Dole has received no reports that anyone has become sick from eating these products. The recall is occurring because a sample in a grocery store in Canada was found through random screening to contain E. coli O157:H7. No other Dole salad products are involved.
This product was sold in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada and in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and neighboring states in the U.S. Consumers can call the Dole Consumer Center toll-free at 800-356-3111. Consumers are reminded that products should not be consumed after the "best if used by" date.
Rene Cardinal, national manager of the fresh fruit and vegetable program at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, told the Ottawa Citizen,
Don't play Russian roulette. If you have it in your home, destroy it," and that not all bags are necessarily contaminated, "but don't take any chances."
Marty Ordman, a Dole spokesman, told the Associated Press that the romaine, green leaf and butter lettuce hearts that went into the blend were grown in California, Colorado and Ohio, then processed at Dole's plant in Springfield, Ohio on Sept. 6.
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California Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Food-borne Illness called on the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura, to provide his office with details on the latest recall of leafy greens grown in the United States, and to inform the committee immediately whether or not the lettuce in question was grown in California and, if so, whether or not the grower was a signatory to the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement proposed by industry as a self-regulatory approach to food safety.
Dole lettuce from U.S. found with E. coli O157:H7 in Canada
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) warned the Canadian public at about 2 a.m. Monday not to consume Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts) because it may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, stating,"The affected product, Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts), produce of USA, is sold in 227 g packages bearing UPC 0 71430 01038 9, BIUB (Best If Used By) date 07SE19 and lot code A24924B. This product may have been distributed nationally.
"There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product."
The quotes above are from the third version of the press release sent out since early Monday morning. And since CFIA always holds information close, iFSN called CFIA and was told the contaminated product was detected during routine CFIA surveillance at retail. CFIA could not tell us where the sampled product was purchased, or where the lettuces were grown.
But it's local, it must be safe
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Hawaii's Department of Health was cited as reporting earlier this month that four tourists and four others on Kaua'i in March were most likely infected by eating contaminated lettuce from a Kaua'i farm, where heavy rains and flooding had carried E. coli O157 from a cattle pasture onto the lettuce patch.The story notes that health investigators took DNA from the disease organisms in patients, and were able to determine that the strain of E. coli O157 bacteria in all the victims had the same DNA fingerprint.
Janice Okubo, public information officer for the state Department of Health, was quoted as saying,
"It was determined that one item, locally produced lettuce, was common to at least one restaurant eaten at by each case during their probable exposure."
