Andy's take: we must do better

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group first found this on the FDA's Web site, and I print it below. Do you agree with "Andy's take," published June 6.

Welcome to Andy’s Take

Recently the FDA was notified of illnesses caused by Salmonella, a type of bacteria that can cause serious problems in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems. Working rapidly with our partners at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and agencies in the states, we quickly determined the source to be certain types of raw red tomatoes. We immediately intervened with public health warnings to consumers in Texas and New Mexico, advising them to not eat raw red plum, red Roma, or round red tomatoes.

My Take is that even with this great response and intervention, we must do better. These rapid response and intervention efforts are effective but we must also have an active prevention strategy that will keep these problems from ever developing – that is the reason behind the creation of FDA’s Food Protection Plan.

The Food Protection Plan builds safety into the food supply through prevention. It also employs cutting-edge science and technology for dealing with microbial and chemical contamination and it includes state-of-the-art information technology systems. By building safety into the food supply through prevention at the source, this new dynamic is enabling the FDA of the 21st century to be better able to ensure that the food you eat is safe.

At the same time, the FDA is pursuing many initiatives to enable us to more rapidly detect problems like these that just occurred as well as to immediately investigate to find the source of the contamination, including working with industry to improve track and trace technologies. This outbreak was detected with the help of sophisticated laboratories using advanced technology to quickly identify the harmful bacteria and to do even better we are expanding our scientific collaboration with academia and state agencies.

The FDA continues to accelerate the hiring of more experts in both our centers and our field offices. And, we are building capacity overseas through the FDA’s Beyond our Borders initiative – which will put FDA scientists and experts on the ground in locations like China and India – because many of the foods we consume today originate overseas.

Ten years ago, we probably would not have become aware of the contaminated tomatoes until many more people were sick. Through prevention, intervention and response – and with a full workforce of professionals here and abroad -- serious illness can be minimized. We will continue to make FDA and a food industry better able to protect you and your family and better able to keep contaminated foods from ever reaching your dining table.

Thanks for checking in for Andy’s Take and I will talk to you next week.

Andy

Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.
Commissioner of Food and Drugs

Jay Martini - How to recoup losses?

Here is the the letter from Jay Martini to David Mitchell of The Packer - lead writer on the salmonella coverage - and copied to me. Jay said it was fine to publish on the blog, save one passage dealing with a rumor. Here is the letter, save that one paragraph:

8:00 AM, Sunday, June 8, 2008

David---

As a tomato broker for the last 28 years, I've seen a handful of food safety scares regarding produce come & go. But this instance hits home, and hits it hard. The difference with this one, other than it involves the commodity in which I make my living, is that the process this time smacks of politics, without any regard for the U.S. farmers or distributors with domestic tomatoes presently in the pipeline.

The headline of your online article below said that Mexican tomatoes were implicated in this outbreak. A more accurate headline should have been that any tomato-producing area not listed by the FDA (a ridiculous, self-serving list of areas that aren't even in season) is suspect. And that includes Florida, whose tomato shippers are left twisting in the wind at this point, along with all of us down the line with Florida product. David Gombas of the UFPA telling industry people 'not to read too much into the list' is an idiotic statement. Of course, everyone's looking at the list---it's our business!

Why doesn't the FDA state in their press release that no grower/shipper in Florida, to my knowledge, has to date been contacted by the FDA? (deleted passage)

The spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Health has herself said that that time of year (beginning April 23), most if not all tomatoes in New Mexico are sourced from Mexico. If this is the case, why is the Florida tomato industry publicly being held hostage?

I was at a graduation party last night when I got a text message with the sickening news that the FDA had gone nationwide with their release, and also that Subway had had an emergency meeting, eventually deciding pull all tomatoes from their sandwiches.

If it is found, as I imagine it will, that Mexican tomatoes are the one and only source of this rare strain of salmonella, how do the shippers, distributors & handlers of Florida tomatoes recoup their losses? Multiple millions of dollars are being lost with every day that this farce continues.

Jay Martini
Sales
Art Kramer's Produce Buying Service, Inc.
Skokie, IL

Waiting for the FDA to pull the trigger

Earlier today, I received an email addressed to Packer reporter David Mitchell and copied to me from a tomato broker who expressed growing frustration with the inability of the FDA to completely clear Florida growing areas in their traceback investigation. I have asked for permission to post the letter on the blog and I will if I receive permission.

The basic frustration expressed by the broker is that Florida tomato growers are "twisting in the wind" when the preponderance of apparent evidence - as expressed by New Mexico health authorities, at least - seems to point to Mexico as the source of the salmonella tainted tomatoes. Yet some complications - perhaps co-mingling at a repacker - are thought to prevent the FDA from clearing Florida growing regions, he said.

With fast food chains beginning to act on the FDA now-nationwide consumer alerts, the pressure is on the agency to quickly identify not only the growing region but also the responsible farm and packing facility that shipped the tomatoes.

FDA's interest in cooperative relationships with growers is being sorely put to the test.

McDonalds restaurants in Canada - "temporarily removed tomatoes"

This story from CTV in Canada. No word yet of similar action in the U.S.

I would have to think that one of the complexities of a traceback investigation for the FDA is the tomato repacking process. I recall a country of origin seminar at the latest United Fresh Produce show when a repacker wondered how he would label repacked tomatoes from U.S. and Mexican orgin in the same carton. Evidently, at least for him, co-mingling tomatoes of different origins was a common practice.If that kind of repacking occured with salmonella tainted tomatoes that have sickened dozens of people in multiple states, you can imagine the difficulty of isolating the bad from the good.....

From CTV:

McDonald's fast-food outlets in Canada have temporarily removed tomatoes from their menu options, after a U.S Food and Drug Administration advisory warned of a salmonella outbreak.

Signs posted outside franchises across the country informed customers of the missing ingredient.

In a statement to CTV.ca, McDonald's said they haven't experienced any related negative issues to date, but consider this a "precautionary measure."

The FDA alerted American consumers and restaurateurs of a nationwide outbreak of an uncommon type of Salmonella -- serotype Saintpaul -- linked to certain types of raw red tomatoes on Saturday, advising that tomatoe consumption should be limited.

Since mid-April, there have been 145 reported cases of salmonellosis in the States caused by this particular stain. At least 23 related hospitalizations have been reported.

There have been no deaths linked to the outbreak.

The specific type or origin of tomatoes tainted with the dangerous bacteria are still under investigation, but could include red plum, red roma, or round red tomatoes.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly in young children, sick and elderly people.

Common symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

McDonald's pledges to monitor the situation carefully.