Botulism - Again!

Another botulism risk warning from FDA, this time for canned green beans:


FDA Warns of Potential Botulism Risk from Canned French Cut Green Beans Product Marketed Under a Variety of Brand Names
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to eat certain brands of French Cut Green Beans in 14.5 ounce cans manufactured by Lakeside Foods Inc, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin because the product may not have been processed adequately to eliminate the potential for botulism toxin. This warning is not related to another recent warning for botulism.
The canned green beans may cause botulism if consumed. FDA is providing this warning to make consumers aware of the possible risk of serious illness from eating these products. As of August 1, 2007, FDA had not received reports of illnesses related to the product.
The botulism toxin is very potent, and botulism is a life-threatening illness. Symptoms of botulism can begin from six hours to two weeks after eating food that contains the toxin. The symptoms may include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness that moves progressively down the body, affecting the shoulders first then descending to the upper arms, lower arms, thighs, and calves. Botulism also may cause paralysis of the breathing muscles, which can result in death unless assistance with breathing (mechanical ventilation) is provided. Individuals who show these symptoms and who may have recently eaten the product should seek immediate medical attention.
The affected Lakeside cut green beans are sold nationwide under the following labels: Albertson’s, Happy Harvest, Best Choice, Food Club, Bogopa, Valu Time, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Laura Lynn, Kroger, No Name, North Pride, Shop N Save, Shoppers Valu, Schnucks, Cub Foods, Dierbergs, Flavorite, IGA, Best Choice and Thrifty Maid. The specific codes (top line of can code) involved are: EAA5247, EAA5257, EAA5267, EAA5277, EAB5247, EAB5257, ECA5207, ECA5217, ECA5227, ECA5297, ECB5207, ECB5217, ECB5227, ECB5307.
Consumers who have any of these products or any foods made with these products should dispose of them immediately. If the code on an affected can is missing or unreadable, consumers should throw the product out.Lakeside Foods has informed FDA that it is voluntarily recalling all of the potentially contaminated products.
Lakeside Foods recommends that consumers with any questions or concerns about the recall should call the company at 800-466-3834 ext. 4090.

HR 3161 passes with bells and whistles

The House passed the Ag/FDA fiscal 2008 appropriations bill, HR 3161, yesterday. Here is the link to bill summary status and text. Only 18 Republicans voted against it, but they were abstaining after failing to derail the bill in an earlier vote.The White House has threatened a veto.

Here is a summary of the bill from the office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. Note provision for housing farm laborers, emphasis on food safety oversight and nutrition issues. In the nutrition camp were funds for nationwide expansion of the fruit and vegetable program and specialty crop block grants to encourage f/v consumption.
From DeLauro:

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3), chairwoman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks in support of the fiscal year 2008 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Bill on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was passed by the House late Thursday evening. It also needs to be voted on by the Senate, approved by both chambers and signed by the President.

“I am proud of this bill and the goals it strives to accomplish – strengthening rural America, protecting public health, improving nutrition for more Americans, transforming our energy future, supporting conservation, investing in research, and finally, enhancing oversight. I believe they reflect our great challenges as a national community – and our priorities as a Committee.

“Each of these key goals is about finally meeting the federal government’s obligation to its citizens – about assuming responsibility again for the things we are supposed to get right.

“Ultimately, the appropriations included here represent modest increases, yet they make a big difference – providing basic services to rural communities, feeding those in need, ensuring the long-term stewardship of our lands, and transforming our food safety system.

“This year’s budget request would have turned back the clock – sometimes even eliminated effective initiatives that make a tremendous impact in the lives and communities of working and middle class Americans:

“Direct loans for rural multifamily rental housing program. Distance Learning and Telemedicine. Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations. Commodity Supplemental Food Programs.

“Now is exactly the wrong time to be undermining the critical efforts of this bill.

“Let me be clear, the appropriations in this bill are NOT based on the belief that we should just throw money at the challenges we face. With new resources should come a new commitment to responsibility and accountability? That commitment allows us to write a new story which reflects this Congress’s new priorities and I believe, we are setting that process in motion today.

“My colleagues, this is just the beginning. The challenges we address in this bill, will not go away – overnight or with the passage of this one bill. But we have a responsibility to pursue a bold vision, to give the ideas we discussed here today, new life tomorrow. It is up to us to summon the political will, provide the creative energy, and build new lasting partnerships across old boundaries. It is up to us to do it together and to do it for the future of our communities, farmers, and families – and our future as a nation. Nothing could be more important.”


Overview of the
FY 2008 Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration Appropriations

This bill reinvests in rural America, protects public health, improves nutrition for more Americans, transforms our energy future, supports conservation, invests in research, and strengthens oversight.

Bill Total Discretionary
2007 Enacted: $17.812 billion
President’s request: $17.830 billion
Committee Mark: $18.817 billion

A full 95 percent of the increase above the budget request (or $940 million) is used to restore funding that was either eliminated or cut in the president’s budget, in order to acknowledge and meet our obligation to hundreds of rural communities and millions of Americans.

Reinvests in Rural America

Rural Housing Loans: Provides $212.2 million, $176.3 million above the President’s request, to fund $5.1 billion in affordable loans to provide housing to low-income families in rural areas, with no increase in fees. The President’s budget had eliminated direct loans and shifted funding to guaranteed loans, increasing fees, making these loans more expensive and less accessible for low-income families. This will provide approximately 38,000 single family homeownership opportunities.

Homeownership for Rural Families: Provides $40 million, $6.3 million above 2007 and $30.5 million above the President’s request, for grants to allow low-income families in rural areas to build their own houses. The ultimate goal is to double the number of participant families, from the 2002 level by 2010.

Housing for Farm Laborers: Provides $46.6 million, $14.5 million above 2007 and $36.8 million above the President’s request, to fund $75 million in affordable loans and grants for housing for farm laborers, nearly doubling the 2007 target of financing or constructing approximately 2000 units.

Rural Community Advancement Programs: Provides $728.8 million, $158.3 million above the President’s request, to support:

Community Facilities: $55.7 million, $31.2 million above the President’s request, for grants and loans to rural areas for critical community facilities, such as health care, educational, public safety and day care facilities.
Clean Water: $573.1 million, $70.3 million above the President’s request and $18.1 million above 2007, for loans and grants for water and waste disposal systems, supporting $1 billion in loans. In 2006, 985 applicants needing $2.3 billion had their grant requests turned down.
Business Loans and Grants: $100 million, $56.8 million above the President’s request and $15.6 million above 2007, for economic development in rural communities.

Technology Access: Provides $52.8 million, $14.2 million above 2007 and $28 million above the President’s request, for grants for distance learning, telemedicine, and broadband development in rural areas. This increase provides funding to double the broadband grant program and a 41 percent increase in distance learning and telemedicine grants to assist rural schools, learning centers, and rural communities in gaining access to improved educational resources, and assist hospitals and health care centers in gaining access to improved medical resources.

Protects Public Health

The bill would prevent cuts to the Food and Drug Administration’s field operations and provides additional funding for key activities including processing generic drug applications, drug safety reviews and monitoring prescription drug advertisements. The bill also tackles food safety, fully funding the Food Safety and Inspection Service at USDA, shifting funds to fill vacancies in federal meat inspector positions and investing in research, and funds a transformation of FDA food safety regulations.

Food Safety and Inspection Service: Provides $930.1 million, $38 million above 2007 and matching the President’s request, addressing vacancies in federal meat inspector positions.

Food and Drug Administration: Provides $1.69 billion, $128.5 million above 2007 and $62 million above the President’s request, including increases to begin a transformation of food safety regulation, improve drug safety, monitor prescription drug advertisements and review generic drug applications.

Improves Nutrition

The bill would provide nutrition to our country’s most vulnerable populations by investing in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and supports programs to teach children better eating habits.

Commodity Supplemental Food Program: Provides $150 million, $43 million above 2007 and eliminated in the President’s request, for food aid for women, infants, children, and the elderly. In 2007, program participation averaged 485,614 monthly. This amount would allow five new states to participate in the program and expand participation in existing states.

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Provides $5.6 billion, $415.6 million above 2007 and $233.4 million above the President’s request, including $145 million to restore the President’s proposed cuts to grants that help states administer the program. 8.38 million Americans are expected to participate in the program next year.

Nutrition: Provides $957.7 million, $45.5 million above 2007 and $69.7 million over the President’s request, for nutrition programs, including the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program ($68.5 million), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable ($21 million) and Simplified Summer Food programs ($5 million) to all states to provide nutritious foods to children in low-income families, and specialty crop grants to encourage more fruit and vegetable consumption ($10 million).

Transforms Our Energy Future

Nearly doubles funding for renewable energy loans and grants to businesses to grow our economy, create new jobs, lower energy prices, and reduce global warming.

Renewable Energy: Provides $1.2 billion, $955.3 million above 2007 and $810.4 million above the President’s request, for bio-energy and renewable energy research and development, including loans and grants in rural areas.

· Wind Energy: $500 million is included in the Rural Electrification and Telecommunications Loans Program for new wind energy projects.
· Business and Industry Loans: $350 million is targeted for biomass and renewable energy projects funded through the Guaranteed Business and Industry loan program.

Supports Conservation

Restores many of the programs the President would have eliminated.

Conservation Programs: Provides $979.4 million, $127.6 million above 2007 and $154.7 million above the President’s request, for conservation efforts and community development. This bill restores many of the programs slated for major reductions in the president’s request, including the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, Resource Conservation and Development, and the watershed programs which are funded $75 million – more than double last year’s levels.

Invests in Research

Provides critical support for ARS and CSREES programs to maintain our edge in areas such as crop development, competitiveness, international trade, nutrition research, food safety and responsiveness to incoming threats. Specifically, the bill provides an overall an increase of $178 million CSREES over the budget request, of that $108.9 million is for research and education.

Strengthens Oversight and Enforcement

Crop Insurance Integrity: Provides $11.2 million, $5.4 million above 2007 and matching the President’s request, for a system to detect potential waste, fraud and abuse in crop insurance and farm loan programs, and an additional $1 million for Inspector General oversight in this area.

Ensuring Livestock Competition: Provides $22.8 million, $2 million above 2007 and matching the President’s request, to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act to assure fair competition and fair trade practices, safeguard farmers and ranchers, protect consumers and protect members of the livestock, meat, and poultry industries from unfair, deceptive, unjustly discriminatory and monopolistic practices. These funds provide for new agents and other professionals to strengthen enforcement and promote voluntary compliance.

Enforcement Efforts at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Provides $102.6 million, $4.6 million above 2007 for additional staff to enforce the agencies regulations.

Other Important Policy Items

Animal Identification: Does not provide new funding for the program because USDA cannot justify money already appropriated. Drastic action is required as this program is far too important to be allowed to continue to flounder. The agency is directed to develop a detailed plan with measurable goals.

Conflicts of Interest on FDA Advisory Committees: Bars FDA from granting waivers for conflicts of interest rules to voting members of FDA advisory committees.

Food Stamp Benefits: Excludes special pay for military personnel deployed to designated combat areas when determining food stamp eligibility. The Food Stamp Program is provided at $39.8 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion over 2007 to meet increased participation. Rejects the Administration’s proposal to restrict eligibility for food stamps by excluding needy families who are receiving certain other services.

Imported Poultry Products from China: Prohibits USDA from establishing or implementing a rule allowing poultry products from China into the U.S.

Country of Origin Labeling: Sets a timeline for USDA to implement country of origin labeling.

Marketing orders and food safety

I would like to delve into the issue of marketing orders and food safety over the next week or so. I would appreciate any input blog readers can provide as to the use of marketing orders for food safety purposes. Such applications have been limited in the past but appear to be gaining momentum for the future. For example, California's leafy green handlers may want to upsize their state marketing agreement to a federal marketing order.

I also would like to look at how these marketing orders with food safety elements would apply to imported produce. I have interviewed Bob Keeney of USDA for his perspective and I will be unpacking that interview.

My beginning understanding of the use of marketing orders for food safety purposes is that the regulations would only apply to imports only if the marketing order applies to all domestic production. Perhaps some of our informed readers may have a different interpretation.

Again, I would like to commend the participation of our Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group members, found here. There is an ongoing discussion there of the pros and cons of the avocado provision in the farm bill, as well as some thoughts about the recent notice destination inspection fee increases.

Here is HR 2419's language on the food safety provisos for marketing orders:

SEC. 10106. IMPLEMENTATION OF FOOD SAFETY PROGRAMS UNDER MARKETING ORDERS.
Section 8c(6) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(6)), reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, is amended by adding at the end the following:
`(K) In the case of an order related to a specialty crop (as such term is defined in section 3(1) of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-465; 118 Stat. 3883)), authorizing the implementation of quality-related food safety programs designed to enhance the safety of the specialty crop and products derived from specialty crops.'.


Here is coverage from The Packer's John Chadwel earlier in July:

By John Chadwell, Staff Writer
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are working with California leafy greens growers to take their voluntary food safety marketing agreement nationwide.
The initial stages of the agreement may be just weeks away, said Lloyd Day, administrator for USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, Washington, D.C. An advance notice in the Federal Register, a precursor to the agreement, is under consideration, Day said.
He said because of the heightened awareness about food safety in Congress, the move may happen within a few weeks.
"It would provide the industry with the opportunity to submit their comments and proposals regarding the possible establishment of a national marketing agreement for leafy green products," he said. "I'd like to push it as much as possible because it's an important issue."
Even so, the process leading to a national marketing agreement would take at least a year, allowing for public hearings, rule-making notices and the USDA's final recommendation.

From The Packer's Doug Ohlemeier in June

After three years of work, the state's tomato growers persuaded Florida lawmakers to pass a farsighted program that will make the Sunshine State one of the leaders in produce food safety.
The grower and packer members of the Florida Tomato Exchange and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, both based in Maitland, worked to establish an industry-wide tomato food safety program.
The growers formulated the Florida rules after the Food and Drug Administration in 2004 called to their attention that tomatoes pose a possible food illness risk.
The food regulatory agency's wake-up call prompted Florida's grower-shippers to aggressively move toward addressing the issue and trying as much as a grower-shipper of any commodity could to reduce risk of contamination.
The new rules, which are mandatory, allow Florida's tomato industry to say it is the first required statewide commodity-wide food safety program.
Because the program hasn't officially started, some packers say they haven't received a lot of reaction to the effort from their customers.

TK: Apart from the practical effectiveness of food safety programs/provisions in marketing orders, I have question about the cost and sustainability. How much will these programs cost growers and are those costs sustainable in the market palce. That is, will buyers pay for it?

Headline roundup 8/3

Produce Comes To Harlem From the New York Press: By promoting fresh fruits and veggies in poorer neighborhoods, organizers hope to fight hunger and obesity at the same time. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum was one of the elected officials on hand to launch the project."When it comes to fighting obesity, it's all about access to the right food at the right price," said Gotbaum.

Farm bill helps corporations at expense of everyone else House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could have listened to Berkeley chef Alice Waters, or to the University of California-Berkeley's Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Instead, she went with the Farmers Rice Co-op, King Ranch and Buttonwillow Land and Cattle Co.
Waters and Pollan were among those urging Pelosi and the House of Representatives she leads to overhaul the nation's farm policy, shifting billions of dollars from subsidies for corporate agribusiness to a means-tested safety net for real family farmers, plus policies to promote healthier foods and sound stewardship of the land.

Tesco attacked in US for 'taking the Wal-Mart way' Tesco is facing the threat of a Wal-Mart-style backlash from environmentalists and union campaigners in the US, before it has opened a single store.
The UK's largest retailer is readying bold plans to crack the US market and has lined up 100 sites for new "Fresh and Easy" stores, predominantly in the west of the country. The first openings are pencilled in for November

U.S. argues against Whole Foods' plan to buy Wild Oats Markets Fron the AP: : Comments made in e-mail and online by the chief executive of Whole Foods - including a reference to avoiding "nasty price wars" - highlight the need to block its plan to purchase Wild Oats Markets, according to a U.S. government antitrust lawyer.
Two days of hearings on the deal ended Wednesday, with Whole Foods countering that the acquisition would help it compete with larger supermarket chains. Judge Paul Friedman of U.S. District Court is expected to rule by mid-August on whether to allow Whole Foods' $565 million plan to proceed.
The Federal Trade Commission is trying to stop the deal out of concern that it would lead to higher prices for fancy and organic food.

E. coli and the future of America In 2006, Americans learned that a salad could be hazardous to your health. The media flurry and the elected official posturing that followed the September 14 outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 associated with spinach, is still fresh on American minds and making daily headlines thanks in no small part to the brisk recalls associated with tainted beef.

Australia still the rotten apple in export barrel New Zealand apples are expected to regain access to the Japanese market soon, which could inject some sweetness into a sector embroiled in a bitter impasse over exports to Australia.
Pipfruit New Zealand chief executive Peter Beaven is not hopeful a last-ditch meeting this week between transtasman trade and agriculture ministers aimed at hastening the export of New Zealand apples to Australia will bear fruit, but calls movement on the Japanese front a promising development.