The big ask

Pic of FDA panel at the Sept. 11 WPPC meeting. Sorry that the pic appears "bootleg" but my G7 Canon decided to stop working yesterday and I borrowed a cell phone (thanks John).



The Washington Public Policy Conference meeting at the FDA facility in College Park, Md. was held in a large theater-style seating auditorium. A panel of FDA experts was on hand, including William Jones, Michelle Smith, Amy Green, Jack Guzewich and Marjorie Davidson. Tom Stenzel and David Gombas of United Fresh also spoke.

The well-attended session (two packed coachline buses) lasted about an hour and a half. It was a cordial meeting, with the first order of business a helpful explanation from Guzewich about the division of duties between local and state health departments, the CDC and the FDA.

He noted that the FDA had more than 50 conference calls with state, local and CDC officials during the outbreak investigation, not to mention communications with the trade and the press.

"It was a very difficult traceback for us....we had people that didn't take a break from June to early August."

He said the FDA officials took no pleasure in the commercial losses of produce traders, but emphasized the agency's top role was to protect consumers.

Guzewich talked of the complexity of tomato traceback, including issues like repacking and co-mingling mentioned.

As far as consumer advisories, FDA panelists said the agency is looking at consumer messaging in terms of what was effective and what wasn't.

There were a number of penetrating questions from WPPC attendees (I'll break down some of these in later blog posts), but the FDA still did not provide for any hope that the tomato link to the salmonella outbreak will be expunged. Even so, Tom Stenzel, in closing the meeting, asked the FDA to consider just that.

Here is what Stenzel said at the conclusion of the meeting, arguing that there appears to be "no logical way" tomatoes were involved in the outbreak:

“I really, really, really ask the agency to join in a reassessment that tomatoes were ever involved in this outbreak.” .

“It’s a rigorous debate, it’s a scientific debate, it’s not wishful thinking on our part,""I think there will be a rigorous scientific debate whether the initial epidemiological evidence was good science, now that we do have hard evidence, microbiological evidence of peppers on a particular farm.

“I urge the FDA in particular, don’t feel compelled by the (Centers for Disease Control)or New Mexico’s initial assessment; I think the agency has a lot riding on this."