Anger and angst

Visiting with a tomato repacker today about a number of topics, including the trade press, association leadership, FDA bungling, blogs, the market and more. Some of his observations:

* On demand: "One day it looks like it is coming back a little bit, and then you get some press and people pull back. I don't think the consumer is confident, even though all the tomatoes in the market are from areas that weren't in production at the time of the first cases from the outbreak...
* On FDA guidance: "the first thing that consumers see in the FDA advice is ..be careful for round and roma tomatoes..
* On why the guidance hasn't changed: "They are trying to cover their ***. Should have been able to pinpoint it if they traced back through the distribution chain at the very beginning when it was isolated, they would have been able to find the source if it was tomatoes."
* On the extent of the outbreak: "There is no packer, repacker or grower that has the kind of distribution you need to have this kind of outbreak, from Maine to Washington state, from Florida to California..you can't get this kind of coverage from anybody...
* On the mystery of source; "for an uneducated layman it appears to be a processed product that gets shipped and is used in foodservice; I would guess a fresh salsa product..everyone says it can't be on tortilla or chips because both are cooked but I'm beginning to wonder..."