Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Monday, September 15, 2008

Raw milk debate rages on

Besides his attention to produce related foodborne illness. Seattle food safety lawyer Bill Marler is squarely in the middle of the raw milk debate.

The CDFA issued a recall for raw cream sold in California on Sept. 11.

Besides the wikipedia reference above, check out this Marlerblog post for more background on the issue.

I don't know if I have ever had raw cow's milk, so I don't know what I'm missing - foodborne illness, for one thing, no doubt.

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Obesity - fat tax and other notes

Alabama, one of the fattest states in the Union, is thinking about a fat tax. Speaking safely from Kansas, I say go for it.....

Alabama plans fat tax:

Beginning in 2010, Alabama, which has the second highest obesity rate in the country, will start charging all of its employees an extra $25 per month for health insurance. (Currently, single workers pay nothing; family plans cost $180 a month.)

But there's a way to avoid the fee: Get a check-up at an in-office "wellness center," where nurses will check for diabetes and hypertension and measure blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose levels and Body Mass Index (BMI).

The idea is to encourage employees to act responsibly, lose weight and lower their health care needs. But critics say it will humiliate and stigmatize obese employees and amounts to nothing short of a "fat tax."


New York begins tracking obesity in schools From the AP:

Legislation passed in 2007 goes into effect this month, requiring public schools outside of New York City to collect and report a summary of students' weights and body mass indexes as part of an effort to combat childhood obesity.

"Whatever you can measure, you can improve," said Dr. Richard Daines, the state health commissioner. "By requiring the measurement of body mass index, I think we'll see some improvement."

Doctors will now be required to test students when they come in for a student health certificate _ which is mandatory for attendance at New York schools. The information will be reported to schools, creating a set of data that will allow health officials to evaluate obesity levels based on geography.


Other headlines:

Down Under: Limiting advertising will cut obesity

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Opportunities in the WIC program

From the WPPC, a presentation about the WIC program by United's Lorelei DiSogra:


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Packer Extra - Sept. 15

From The Packer Extra:


COLLEGE PARK, Md. — If the evidence doesn’t fit, food safety officials should acquit tomatoes as a source of the Salmonella Saintpaul pathogen in the now-concluded massive foodborne illness outbreak, one industry leader asked Food and Drug Administration officials here Sept. 11. Go here for the story.

Higher prices alter consumers’ purchases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumers say steep rises in fresh produce prices would cause them to slash consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in favor of other options, according to a recent survey from the Produce Marketing Association. Go
here for the story.

Chile’s U.S. exports projected to rebound

Chilean fresh fruit exports to the U.S. dropped by 10% during the 2007-08 season, with a corresponding bump up in shipments to Europe, but many U.S. importers are looking to the future with optimism. Go
here for the story.

Sweet Sunshine grape well received in debut

A new challenger to California’s venerable thompson seedless mid-season table grape favorite has emerged. Go
here for the story.

Distribution center helps Stater Bros. compete

Stater Bros. Markets, a San Bernardino, Calif.-based chain of 165 stores, opened the doors of a new refrigerated distribution center. Go
here for the story.

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Marler: don't rule out tomatoes just yet

While the entire industry now believes that tomatoes were not involved in the salmonella outbreak, Seattle food safety lawyer Bill Marler isn't so sure. As you might suspect... From the Web site www.lawyersandsettlements.com.

For other complainants that don’t know what made them sick (tomatoes, peppers or even salsa) or where they purchased contaminated food, Marler says the situation is more problematic, i.e., trying to figure out how to get victims compensated. "Not to sound trite but you must have someone responsible, someone to sue," he says.

"For example, there are a lot of cases where people ate out multiple times and ate dishes with tomatoes and peppers," explains Marler, " and within that time frame of getting sick, if they ate on Monday and again Tuesday at different Mexican restaurants, how will you know which one had contaminated food?" Marler's firm is investigating all of those possibilities.

"Even today I am not convinced it was solely peppers responsible for the outbreak," he adds. "I think tomatoes were involved early on in the outbreak. Investigators have been able to locate a certain water source at a certain supplier in Mexico and that supplier provided both peppers and tomatoes, so the water source was contaminated with salmonella. In other words, Salmonella did not necessarily come from the grower. Then they found contaminated peppers at a warehouse in Texas.

TK: Compared with the FDA, don't discount the "traceback" investigation by Marler; he is more than motivated enough to find someone to sue, it seems.

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The week ahead

The stock market will apparently start off the week in turmoil. Here is a a link to a NYT article that explains the backdrop to what is expected to be a horrendous day on Wall Street.

For the simpler side of life, here is a list of industry meetings on tap for this week. Check out more details in the Fresh Talk calendar at the bottom of the page.


Monday, September 15
United States Potato Board State/National Workshop

Tuesday, September 16
United States Potato Board State/National Workshop
Fresh Produce & Floral Council Northern California membership luncheon
Fresh-cut Products: Maintaing Quality and Safety; University of California-Davis

Wednesday, September 17
United States Potato Board State/National Workshop
Fresh-cut Products: Maintaing Quality and Safety; University of California-Davis

Thursday, September 18
United States Potato Board State/National Workshop
Fresh-cut Products: Maintaing Quality and Safety; University of California-Davis

Sunday, September 21
Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association Convention

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