What's next?

I'm in Boca Raton for the FFVA convention, hot on the heels of the WPPC. As I opened up my email inbox, I found plenty of headlines about the Dole recall. Should be an eventful and memorable day tomorrow as food safety will be the subject of one workshop and I will moderate a group of industry leaders on discussions about the farm bill, immigration, food safety and pest issues. While many questions remain (where was the product sourced from being the chief among them) this recall may certainly give momentum to produce safety legislation and calls into question whether the leafy greens marketing agreement can win the confidence of consumers.

Canada announces recall on Dole product From The Packer's coverage by John Chadwell
(Sept. 17) The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, issued a nationwide recall of Dole Hearts Delight bagged lettuce on Sept. 16 after a routine inspection discovered E. coli O157:H7, two days after the one-year anniversary of a similar recall of Dole-brand bag of spinach in the U.S.Rene Cardinal, acting national manager for the fruits and vegetable program of CFIA, said a single bag of the Dole salad blend of romaine, green leaf and butter lettuce hearts from a Loblaw’s supermarket tested positive for the pathogen.“We are talking with Dole to try to determine how wide the distribution is in Canada,” he said on Sept. 17. “The product was tested a week ago and it took five days to get the results back. We announced a nationwide recall September 16.”Cardinal said the agency is working with Dole, Monterey, Calif., to monitor the removal of the product from store shelves and the effectiveness of the recall. As of Sept. 17, there were no illnesses linked to the lettuce.The implicated product lot bears the UPC code 0 71430 01038 9 with a “best if used date” of Sept. 19, and a lot code of A24924B.Calif. Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, called A. G. Kawamura, agriculture secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture about the recall.“I am very concerned that any produce subject to the leafy greens marketing agreement could make it not only to store shelves but into a foreign nation’s distribution system before contamination was found,” Florez said in a Sept. 17 statement. “If this is California produce, we will expect to see that an effective traceback was in place to allow us to determine exactly what happened and who is responsible, as promised in the (California Leafy Green Products Marketing Agreement). I’m sure the public is as interested as I am in seeing what type of penalties will be applied under the marketing agreement to effect real change in industry behavior.”

Dole press release about recall From the release:
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.

Coverage from The Ottawa Citizen From the story:
The affected packages contain romaine and green leaf lettuce and butter lettuce hearts."Don't play Russian roulette," said Rene Cardinal, national manager of the fresh fruit and vegetable program at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. "If you have it in your home, destroy it." Cardinal added that not all bags are necessarily contaminated, "but don't take any chances."

Doug Powell of K-State's Food Safety Network passes along this press release from Calif. Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter.
Press Release
SACRAMENTO--Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, today called on the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture to provide his office with details on the latest recall of leafy greens grown in the United States, this recall announced by our neighbors to the north in Canada over fears of E. coli contamination.Less than three weeks ago, California grower Metz Fresh recalled 8000 cartons of spinach -- which had already been delivered to stores -- over concerns of salmonella contamination.Today, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning consumers not to eat Dole brand Hearts Delight bagged lettuce with a “best if used by date” of September 19, which the agency warns Canadians “may have been distributed nationally” and is believed to be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria. Infection by E. coli bacteria can lead to permanent kidney damage or even death, particularly in vulnerable populations such as the elderly and very young children.Florez, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Food-borne Illness, called on CDFA secretary A.G. Kawamura 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.After two outbreaks of E. coli from California leafy greens killed at least three people and sickened hundreds nationwide in 2006, Florez authored legislation to regulate the industry.The leafy green industry fought the legislation and pushed for a “voluntary food safety program.” Despite the industry’s previous failure to act on multiple warnings from the Food and Drug Administration regarding nearly two dozen outbreaks, the Assembly Agriculture Committee shelved Florez’s legislation in favor of giving industry one more chance to self-police.“I am very concerned that any produce subject to the leafy greens marketing agreement could make it not only to store shelves but into a foreign nation’s distribution system before contamination was found,” Florez said. “If this is California produce, we will expect to see that an effective traceback system was in place to allow us to determine exactly what happened and who is responsible, as promised in the LGMA. I’m sure the public is as interested as I am in seeing what type of penalties will be applied under the marketing agreement to effect real change in industry behavior.”Dear Secretary Kawamura:I am writing to express my continued concern regarding the safety of leafy green produce grown in California. Less than three weeks have passed since the recent salmonella contamination incident, which the Department has yet to provide adequate response to the Committee’s inquiry. Today, the Canadian Government has issued a nationwide recall of Dole Brand ready to eat salad mix due to possible E. coli 0157:H7 contamination. It is my understanding that the recalled produce was grown in the United States.I am concerned because the Canadian Government recently announced that it would only allow the import of California leafy green produce that is subject to the LGMA. The issuance of a nationwide recall by the Canadian Government is also significant because during the last E. coli 0157:H7 spinach outbreak, the Canadian Government closed their market to foreign leafy green produce. This caused a significant negative impact on California growers. As we move forward it is clear that there is a serious question of confidence in California’s leafy green produce industry.Accordingly, please identify whether the produce subject to the Canadian Government’s national recall was grown in California. This should be easy to determine quickly given the LGMA requires the use of a “trace-back system.” This information should be provided to the Committee immediately upon determination.If the contaminated produce was produced in California, please provide the Committee with the following information:
1) Whether the processor was a signatory to the LGMA.
2) Whether the processor had any testing program in place, and if so why the testing program failed to prevent the contaminated produce from reaching the marketplace, foreign or otherwise.
3) Whether the packaging containing the contaminated spinach bears the official seal of the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement. In the event that the packaging does not bear the seal, please provide an explanation as to why, given that the seal is the only manner for consumers to identify whether a grower is a signatory to the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement and was touted as a cornerstone of the agreement.
4) Whether the processing plant and the fields that grew the contaminated lettuce have been inspected pursuant to the LGMA. If so, please provide the date of the inspection and the results of the investigation, detailing any violations or shortcomings identified. Please provide any documents generated during the inspection process.
5) Whether the grower and/or handler will be subject to punitive action under the LGMA, and what those penalties may entail.
6) What specific actions will be taken by the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement Board in light of this incident.Given the seriousness of the situation, as demonstrated by a foreign government issuing a nationwide recall on specified U.S. produce, please provide a response no later than 1pm on Thursday, September 20, 2007.
Sincerely,
DEAN FLOREZ
Chair, California Senate Select Committee on Food-Borne Illness