Food safety roundup 8/18

Doug Powell of K-State's Food Safety Network passes along these links today.

FDA cancels plans to close field labs, focuses on food safety From The Chicago Tribune:

Bowing to growing pressure over apparent lapses in the nation's food safety system, the Food and Drug Administration Friday canceled plans to close several field laboratories and district offices.In a memo to her staff, Maggie Glavin, the FDA's assistant commissioner for regulatory affairs, was cited as saying the decision would give the agency more time to examine its food-safety enforcement role.Glavin's decision makes permanent an earlier FDA move postponing the closure of seven of its 13 field laboratories. The labs are used to test foods that FDA inspectors suspect may be contaminated.Glavin wrote in her memo that it was appropriate to consider changes at the agency "in light of the new import and food safety initiatives." She added, "To assure our success and allow additional time to gather input, I am canceling plans for the rollout of all changes to our organizational structure."The plan to close the labs, which would have affected about 250 FDA employees, had drawn sharp criticism from some in Congress, where food safety has become a hot topic in the wake of scares over contaminated food imported from China and domestic food-borne illness outbreaks involving bagged spinach and peanut butter.In addition, Glavin announced the agency would cancel plans to reduce its 20 district offices to 16.

FLORIDA: Food-safety standards are taking root From The Palm Beach Post

Last September's nationwide E. coli outbreak stemmed from California spinach, and didn't include any greens grown in Florida.But lettuce and spinach growers here are now looking to California for food-safety guidance, adopting the Golden State's new voluntary guidelines for the crops, while tweaking them for Florida's growing conditions.Rick Roth, president of Roth Farms east of Belle Glade was cited as saying the state's $50 million to $75'million commercial lettuce and leafy greens industry consists of five western Palm Beach County growers.The story says that known as the Everglades Agricultural Area, it's the only major lettuce-growing region in the state, producing romaine, endive, iceberg and escarole lettuce and baby spinach.Toby Basore, president of TKM/Bengard Farms in Belle Glade and chairman of the Florida Vegetable Exchange, was quoted as saying, "What this will do more than anything is make sure we are all playing by the rules."


CFIA: Health Hazard Alert - Los Angeles Salad Company Baby Carrots may Contain Shigella Bacteria From the Canadian Food Inspection Agency:
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume Los Angeles Salad Company Baby Carrots described below because the product may be contaminated with Shigella.The affected product, Los Angeles Salad Company Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots, is labelled as product of Mexico and imported by Los Angeles Salad Company. It is sold in 672 g/1.5 lb plastic bags bearing ITM 50325, UPC 8 31129 00137 7 and Sell By dates up to and including 8 /13 /07.This product was sold in Costco stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.There have been four reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.Food contaminated with Shigella may not look or smell spoiled. Shigella infection can cause diarrhea (which may be bloody), fever, nausea, and vomiting. Illness usually lasts from 4 to 14 days. In some persons, especially very young, and very old people and people with compromised immune systems, the diarrhea can be more severe. Infection can occur after eating and drinking food and water that is contaminated with Shigella and can be passed from person to person.Costco Wholesale, Ottawa, Ontario, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.For more information, consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).For information on Shigella, visit the Food Facts web page at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/causee.


Eight defendants dismissed from Sheetz tomato case From The Altoona Mirror:
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The civil lawsuit concerning distribution of tainted tomatoes to Sheetz stores in Pennsylvania and other states during June and July 2004 was slimmed down considerably Thursday by a Blair County judge, who dismissed eight defendants from the case.President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva said in an opinion that “it is impossible to track back and differentiate which particular supplier sold the one or many contaminated tomato[es].”For the sake of consumer protection and safety, she called for better record keeping from the farm to the salad bar.The salmonella poisoning outbreak lasted from July 3-9, 2004, and affected stores throughout Pennsylvania and other states and sickened hundreds of customers. It led to investigations by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Agriculture.The primary lawsuit in the case stemmed from the illness of Altoona resident Max Christian Anslinger. He and his wife, Nanette Marie Anslinger, sued Sheetz and Coronet Foods.“The cause of the outbreak was traced back to pre-sliced Roma tomatoes used by Sheetz,” Kopriva said.Sheetz, an Altoona-based corporation, had one supplier for its Roma tomatoes — Coronet Foods Inc. of Wheeling, W.Va. Coronet said it received its tomatoes from Procacci Brothers Sales Corp. of Philadelphia and Consumer Produce Co. Inc. of Pittsburgh.State agriculture representatives tested a tray of sliced Roma tomatoes July 13, 2004, at a Sheetz store in Greencastle and found a sample tested positive for salmonella.Sheetz, Coronet and several experts attempted to trace the tomatoes distributed by Coronet but ran into problems.
Studies showed that at one point, tomatoes from Procacci and Consumer Produce were commingled.Because of the tests and a timeline when Procacci and Consumer Products supplied Coronet with tomatoes, Sheetz and Coronet leaned toward Procacci as the company that supplied the bad tomatoes.
The judge ruled the evidence was not strong enough to establish a circumstantial case against Procacci.She dismissed civil charges against Procacci and Consumer Produce, Six L’s Packing Co. Inc., Island Tomato Growers Inc., Wm. P. Hearne Produce Co. Inc., Wishnatzki Farms, Classie Growers Inc., and Taylor and Fulton Inc.The judge’s decision leaves Sheetz and Coronet as the only defendants in the case. Attorney Mike Cortez, Sheetz vice president and general counsel, said an appeal is an option.Attorney Eric Anderson of Pittsburgh, representing Coronet, said Thursday that he will study the opinion before deciding the next step.He defended Coronet’s record keeping, saying, ‘‘We think it was sufficient to prevail on the issues before the court.’’Meanwhile, Kopriva has called for a status conference to discuss the future of the case Sept. 26.


From farm to salad; local processing plant would put greens in the bag From the Greenfield, Mass. Recorder.
With more 'green' in hand, Deerfield-based Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture will study whether a processing plant for bagging salad greens could help local farmers.
The plant could help local growers expand their markets to large retailers and regional institutional kitchens by meeting increasing safety standards.
The $33,825 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay for a study to see whether it makes sense for Massachusetts farmers to process salad greens to current industry standards of safety.
Recent outbreaks of illnesses traced to pre-bagged salad greens have raised industry and consumer concerns about salad green safety. More and more, larger retailers and buyers, such as Whole Foods Market or Sodexho, require that greens be certified according to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points standards.
Some area growers who were producing greens for Whole Foods pre-cut salad mixes lost business when the chain's owners tightened its requirements in the wake of concerns about spinach contaminated with E. coli last year, according to CISA Program Director Kelly Coleman.
'Now there's an industry standard, with a lot of large food management companies moving in this direction,' Coleman said.
There are no Massachusetts facilities where farmers can process ready-to-eat salad greens to HACCP standards, which she said are becoming more widely demanded among institutional buyers. The HACCP standard for handling of processed foods describes a systematic, preventive approach that addresses physical, chemical and biological hazards at all stages of food production, rather than relying on inspection of finished products.
CISA has done preliminary work on the HACCP study with part of a $117,000 state Agricultural Innovation grant awarded in May to study construction of a dairy-processing plant in the Pioneer Valley.
At the time, CISA Executive Director Annie Cheatham said, 'Without access to HACCP-certified processing facilities, commonwealth farmers cannot sell fresh salad greens to grocery stores and commercial cafeterias where most prepackaged salad is sold. Our farmers are effectively locked out of a market that could be very profitable for them.'
Through the year-long feasibility study, CISA will help determine the cost of producing and processing HACCP-certified salad greens and assess the statewide market demand for them.
It will examine the feasibility of developing such a processing facility as part of the Greenfield Food Processing Center run by the Franklin County Community Development Corp., or a similar community kitchen, or whether on-farm facilities are feasible.
CISA already has evidence that there is significant demand for locally grown HACCP-certified salad greens in western Massachusetts. More than half the region's hospitals and almost three-fourths of area colleges are interested in or are already buying local food. Many area food service managers have expressed interest in finding local pre-washed salad greens to anchor their salad bar menus, but they have had difficulty finding farmers who can meet this need.
'Right now, the vast majority of pre-bagged salad greens are grown in California and Arizona. Meanwhile, many of our state's farmers -- many of whom can grow greens 10 months out of the year -- are struggling to stay in business,' Cheatham said.
The study ultimately may give Massachusetts farmers new ways to compete with this national market, she said.

More thoughts on going local

Some insightful thoughts on the buy local trend, from the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Board:

Luis writes:

Wonder how genuine (trend or fad) is this movement. Also, this is not new and may be is just my own perception but I've also noticed more states issuing "Ag Tags" license plates to raise funds for activities like Ag education in the classroom.

Sharon responds:

As primarily a 'buy local' gal, I think this movement will continue to grow as long as it takes our citizens to get beyond the obesity epidemic and other diseases. As they realize that our supermarket shelves have been stocked full of products that have helped to create disease instead of health, our citizens are seeking better alternatives in what they fuel their bodies with. The pendulum swings.... and locally grown fresh food wins... for now.
I suppose that once we get healthier and our ag regional delivery systems mature, the movement will cease to be a movement, but simply a way of life. Sure, wheat and apples only grow so many places, so there will always be a national (and international) delivery system. But, for now, as we are desperate to get away from obesity (and increased rates of cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.), we will chose another way to feed ourselves. And, our manufacturers will get their due in lost sales of those items that has helped to create these problems in the first place.