Salinas Valley, Leafy Green Vegetables, and E. coli - Food Poison Journal

Salinas Valley, Leafy Green Vegetables, and E. coli - Food Poison Journal


On February 5, 2004, the FDA wrote a letter to the lettuce and tomato industries to voice its concern about the frequent outbreaks linked to those products. In the letter, the FDA counted 14 such outbreaks since 1996 that it had investigated. Among other things, the letter stated:

In view of continuing outbreaks associated with fresh lettuce and fresh tomatoes, we strongly encourage firms in your industries to review their current operations in light of the agency’s guidance for minimizing microbial food safety hazards in fresh lettuce and fresh tomatoes, as well as other available information regarding pathogen reduction or elimination on fresh produce. We further encourage these firms to consider modifying their operations accordingly, to ensure that they are taking the appropriate measures to provide a safe product to the consumer. Since the available information concerning some of the recent outbreaks does not definitively identify the point of origin of the contamination, we recommend that firms from the farm level through the distribution level undertake these steps.

On September 30, 2005, a year and a half after the FDA’s 2004 letter to the lettuce industry, the Minnesota Department of Health issued a press release stating that 11 Minnesota residents had been infected by E. coli O157:H7 from contaminated Dole romaine lettuce. Two days later, the FDA issued a nationwide public health alert regarding Dole pre-packaged salads. Further investigation indicated that 22,321 cases of potentially contaminated Dole romaine lettuce had been sent to market from a processing facility in central California. Ultimately, at least 32 people were sickened in the outbreak.

One month after the 2005 Dole lettuce outbreak, the FDA wrote the industry again. The November 4, 2005 letter began as follows: “This letter is intended to make you aware of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) serious concern with the continuing outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of fresh and fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy greens.” The letter continued:

FDA is aware of 18 outbreaks of foodborne illness since 1995 caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 for which fresh or fresh-cut lettuce was implicated as the outbreak vehicle. In one additional case, fresh-cut spinach was implicated. These 19 outbreaks account for approximately 409 reported cases of illness and two deaths. Although tracebacks to growers were not completed in all 19 outbreak investigations, completed traceback investigations of eight of the outbreaks associated with lettuce and spinach, including the most recent lettuce outbreak in Minnesota, were traced back to Salinas, California.

After pointing its finger steadily at central California, the FDA closed its 2005 letter to the industry by encouraging action to correct the problems within the industry, specifically outlining certain steps that the industry needed to take.

September 2006 changed everything. It was the month that the word “outbreak” truly became part of everybody’s vocabulary. It was the month that E. coli O157:H7-contaminated spinach caused 204 confirmed illnesses nationally; left 102 people hospitalized, 31 with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS); and caused three deaths . . . at least by the CDC’s official count. Among the dead were an elderly Wisconsin resident; a two-year-old Idaho boy named Kyle Algood; 81-year-old Ruby Trautz; 86-year-old June Dunning; and 83-year-old Betty Howard. And for those who survived their acute HUS illnesses, many will require a life-time of medical care, including kidney transplants, that may cost well over one hundred million dollars in the end accounting.

The large-scale investigation that followed, complete with an armed FBI raid, ultimately proved that the spinach had been grown, packed, processed, and bagged in the Salinas Valley, California.

On the heels of this devastating outbreak, fresh spinach sales stopped entirely for almost two weeks while the nation was gripped by a panic bigger than any it had before seen with respect to a single food product. Sales over the next several months plummeted from pre-outbreak levels. Ultimately, spinach sales did not reach pre-recall levels until the end of January 2008.

But the heavy impact of California failures wasn’t over yet, not even for the year 2006. Before the year ended, at least two more major lettuce-associated outbreaks hit: one at Taco John’s restaurants in the Midwest, and one at Taco Bell restaurants in the East; both as a result of contaminated iceburg lettuce grown in California. The Taco John’s outbreak left 81 people ill, 26 hospitalized and two with HUS; and the Taco Bell outbreak caused 71 confirmed illnesses, 53 hospitalizations, and eight cases of HUS. Again, traceback investigation in both outbreaks proved that the lettuce had gone to Taco John from the Bakersfield area and to Taco Bell from near Huron in the Central Valley.

Out the other end of this vortex came the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA). The LGMA website, states as follows:

In 2007 California farmers came together to raise the bar for food safety. As a result the California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement (LGMA) was formed. Members of the LGMA are working collaboratively to protect public health by reducing potential sources of contamination in California-grown leafy greens.

To date nearly 120 handlers, representing approximately 99% of the volume of California leafy greens, have joined the LGMA. These companies have committed themselves to sell products grown in compliance with the food safety practices accepted by the LGMA board. LGMA membership requires verification of compliance with the accepted food safety practices through mandatory government audits. These food safety practices were developed by university and industry scientists, food safety experts and farmers, shippers and processors. California leafy greens are now grown under a unique system that has become a model for leafy green growers in other states.

It is in everybody’s interests for Salinas Valley to produce a safer product. The area is one of the largest exporters of fresh produce anywhere, accounting for 570 million pounds of the world’s produce exports every year. http://www.salinaschamber.com/ag_industry.asp. Salinas Valley produce goes to consumers across the country, as well as many of the world’s other major economies, including Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mexico, and the European Union.

Critical questions remain unanswered on the efficacy of the LGMA, and Salinas area processors’ efforts to implement its principles. Has this 3.8 billion dollar a year agricultural Mecca come up with any solutions to its complex problems? How well have the LGMA, the many lawsuits that individual producers have faced, and the FDA-led governmental pressure really worked? If not, why not? And what is the price of failure? More to come on this major public health issue.

Roubini forecasts dismal US growth

Roubini forecasts dismal US growth

DAVOS, Switzerland - Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who anticipated the financial crisis, said yesterday that the US growth outlook remains “very dismal.’’

Speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, Roubini underscored concern that measures to rescue banks and fight the recession may be withdrawn too soon.

Of a Commerce Department report that showed economic expansion of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter, Roubini said, “I think we are in trouble.’’ More than half of the growth was related to a replenishing of depleted inventories, he said, and consumption was reliant on monetary and fiscal stimulus. As these forces ebb, the rate will slow to 1.5 percent in the second half of 2010, he predicted.

He said that while the world’s largest economy would not relapse into recession, US unemployment will rise from the current 10 percent amid mediocre growth.

“It’s going to feel like a recession even if technically we’re not going to be in a recession,’’ he said.

Food safety improvements slow in coming

Food safety improvements slow in coming

ATLANTA, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Efforts to improve the safety of peanut butter after a major food-borne illness outbreak are moving slowly, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday.

The newspaper said promises by the state of Georgia and the U.S. government to crack down on food safety mostly remain unfulfilled, with new food testing regulations passed by the Gerogia Legislature still mainly not implemented.

Federal efforts to cut down on food-borne illnesses via food safety legislation are stuck Congress and have been supplanted by healthcare reform efforts, the report said.

The Journal-Constituted also said no criminal charges have been filed against the owners of the bankrupt Peanut Corp. of America plant where officials say contaminated peanut butter was put into products that sickened 700 people and has been linked to nine deaths nationwide.

"Nothing's happened," Minnesota resident Jeff Almer, whose mother, Shirley, died from eating contaminated peanut butter traced to Peanut Corp., told the newspaper. "It's very frustrating."

"It could peter out," added Tony Corbo of the non-profit consumer advocacy group Food and Water Watch. "This has gotten off the radar."

Obama's pick for food safety chief surprises consumer advocates Washington Post

Obama's pick for food safety chief surprises consumer advocates Washington Post

Soon after taking office, President Obama highlighted food safety as a domestic priority. A string of national outbreaks of food illnesses were a "troubling trend," the president said. He called the problems "critical" and said they presented a "risk to public health."

But the Obama administration has had a difficult time filling the post of chief food safety official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it wasn't until this week -- one year into his term -- that the president nominated someone to assume that role. The choice of Elisabeth Hagen, 40, a physician with four years' experience in food safety, surprised food safety advocates, who said they knew little about her.

"Consumer advocates who work closely with [the Department of Agriculture] on policy issues have had limited direct experience with Dr. Hagen," said the Consumer Federation of America, which is part of a group known as the Safe Food Coalition.

A spokesman at the USDA said Hagen is declining interview requests as she awaits confirmation by the Senate. Her nomination does not appear to face strong opposition.
The meat industry applauded the selection. "Hagen brings the background, skills and vision to lead USDA's efforts to make sure that Americans have access to a safe and healthy food supply," said Patrick J. Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute.

It is difficult to assess Hagen's positions on policy or the politics of food safety; she hasn't published any papers, articles or books on the topic. Most of her career has been spent teaching and practicing medicine as an infectious disease specialist. She left medicine in 2006 and went to the USDA, where she was quickly promoted through the ranks of the department's Food Safety and Inspection Service to become the chief medical officer last year.

If confirmed as undersecretary of agriculture for food safety, Hagen will face complex challenges. She would oversee the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service, which is responsible for safe meat, poultry and eggs, which make up 20 percent of the food supply. It employs 7,300 inspectors who perform daily and continuous checks inside 6,200 food processing facilities.

The number of recalls, illnesses and deaths associated with contaminated meats and poultry has remained steady since 2004, despite government and industry pledges to make food safer. This month, Russia banned U.S. imports of chicken out of concern about a chlorine wash American producers are using to disinfect poultry.

Hagen was not the first choice for the job at the USDA.

Last February, the administration approached Mike Doyle, a nationally known microbiologist who directs the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. Doyle said he was offered the job and was vetted, but the day before the announcement was to be made in May, his nomination collapsed. The White House wanted Doyle to divest his financial interest in a patented microbial wash for meat that he had developed. Doyle offered to defer his interests until his government service was completed but the administration refused, he said. "It's just an awful lot to ask for," Doyle said. "I would have taken a more than 50 percent pay cut to go to Washington, and this would have been a very big financial hit."

The administration also sought out Caroline Smith Dewaal, the director of food safety at Center for Science in the Public Interest, a lawyer and nationally known food safety expert who has spent 20 years working on policy and trade issues. But Dewaal's nomination came to a halt in August because she was a registered lobbyist, which violated the administration's policy against hiring lobbyists.

Meanwhile, problems with foods regulated by the USDA continued unabated. In 2009, there were 13 recalls of beef products contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 that were linked with three deaths and dozens of illnesses. In the first three weeks of 2010, there have been six recalls of tainted meats. The most recent recall, which is ongoing, involves salami contaminated with Salmonella that has sickened 189 people in 40 states.

"I don't know of her personally," Doyle said of Hagen. "She's got a steep learning curve.

Thieves are swiping tractor-trailers filled with goods, triggering a spike in cargo theft on the nation's highways - WSJ

Thieves are swiping tractor-trailers filled with goods, triggering a spike in cargo theft on the nation's highways.

Over five days last month, an 18-wheeler carrying 710 cartons of consumer electronics was stolen from a Pennsylvania rest stop, a 53-foot-long rig packed with 43,000 pounds of paper was ripped off in Ottawa, Ill., and a 40-foot-long truck filled with reclining armchairs went missing in Atlanta.

Truckloads containing $487 million of goods were stolen in the U.S. in 2009, a 67% increase over the $290 million worth of products swiped a year earlier. Thieves stole 859 truckloads in 2009, up from 767 loads in 2008 and 672 in 2007, according to FreightWatch International, an Austin, Texas-based supply-chain security firm that maintains a database of thefts that several government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, look to for trends.

"In the past two months, we've just seen such an increase that it's to the point where criminals are just wreaking havoc," said Sandor Lengyel, a detective sergeant and squad leader in New Jersey State Police's cargo-theft unit. "They'll pretty much steal anything." Cargo thieves ripped off $28 million in goods in New Jersey in 2009, an 87% spike from the $15 million stolen in 2008, he said.

Law-enforcement authorities in Illinois, California and Pennsylvania are among several agencies and industry groups also reporting a spike.

Chubb Corp., a major insurer based in Warren, N.J., said that its own insurance claims and data from other sources show 725 cargo thefts in 2009, up 6.6% from 680 in 2008, and up 23% from 592 cargo thefts recorded for 2007. Chubb estimates the 2009 thefts amounted to $435 million of products.

The latest wave of thefts is different from a run of tractor-trailer hijackings that occurred in the 1960s, when organized-crime rings forced drivers out at gunpoint and took their trucks. According to industry officials and police, the current thefts are generally nonviolent and typically happen at rest stops when the driver is away from the truck and eating or showering.

While organized-crime rings may be involved, "we are seeing a lot more amateurs get into this," said Sgt. Sid Belk, of the California Highway Patrol. Cargo bandits made off with $29 million of goods in 2009 in Southern California, up 67% from $17.4 million in 2008, according to the highway patrol.

Thieves often know what cargo a truck is hauling because they will follow trucks from a plant, according to police.

Thieves drive the whole tractor-trailer away or hitch up to an unattended trailer, as truckers sometimes leave a trailer in a drop lot and drive off in just the tractor for an errand.

Cargo theft represents a big concern and cost for trucking and other freight haulers, says J.J. Coughlin, chairman of the SouthWest Transportation Security Council, a nonprofit industry group that represents more than 200 freight-shipping companies. The council estimates that the average loss in each theft is $350,000—and that is just the load inside the truck. "Sometimes you lose that too," he said of the tractor-trailer. Typically, though, the tractor-trailer is found miles away.

Mr. Coughlin said that in an effort to combat the problem, freight shippers have been meeting more with police departments. The shippers have also been pushing owners of truck stops and drop lots to provide better security.

Also, in the past two years, the freight shippers have banded together to try to come up with solutions, such as sharing information about what kinds of loads are most stolen so that when those goods are shipped, everyone in the supply chain can be alerted to pay extra attention.

California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Illinois and New Jersey are the top states for number of cargo thefts, according to FreightWatch. The crooks are targeting such things as electronics, food and beverages, clothing, pharmaceuticals and cigarettes.

The thefts can also threaten consumer safety. In February 2009, an unattended refrigerated truck with $11 million of insulin made by Danish drug concern Novo Nordisk A/S was ripped off in Conover, N.C., while the driver was in a truck stop, according to Sgt. Shane Moore, of the Conover police department.

After the theft, the Food and Drug Administration and Novo Nordisk put out a news release, alerted the health-care industry, and advised pharmacies to inspect inventories, said Sean Clements, a company spokesman. Still, some of the stolen vials wound up in the hands of diabetics, several of whom showed up at medical centers in Kentucky and Texas over the summer sickened because the insulin was inactive, said Karen Riley, an FDA spokeswoman.

The FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations is looking into how the drugs were given to patients. Mr. Clements said the stolen insulin did not get to patients through Novo Nordisk's normal distribution. He said the "safety of our patients is of paramount concern," and that the company is working with investigators, and has taken steps to improve security.

Electronics were the target of a thief who struck near midnight on Jan. 13 at a minimart in Hazleton, Pa., two hours north of Philadelphia. A trucker hauling $500,000 of electronics to an Amazon.com Inc. distribution center left his trailer parked there while he made another delivery elsewhere, said Trooper Charles Everdale III, of the Pennsylvania's State Police auto-theft task force. When the trucker returned the trailer was gone, the trooper said.

He said the partially empty trailer turned up in recent days in Palm Beach, Fla. Amazon declined to comment.

Irrigation district to oppose latest PG&E rate hike

Irrigation district to oppose latest PG&E rate hike

Even as it rakes in the money from recent rate hikes, the Central Valley’s largest utility wants more -- $1.1 billion more. But not if the small South San Joaquin Irrigation District in Manteca can stop it.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company rate hikes would increase the average residential electric bill by $17.44 starting in January 2011. They would also increase gas bills by $3.15 per month on average.

The 10.6 percent increase would be in addition to three rate increases granted the giant utility over the past 14 months.

The South San Joaquin Irrigation District, which serves the Manteca, Ripon and Escalon areas in the Central Valley, says it will formally intervene on the behalf of all ratepayers to challenge the rate hike.

The irrigation district is embroiled in a legal battle with PG&E in an effort to buy the utility’s physical assets in the SSJID area so the district could provide power. The irrigation district contends its rates would be 15 percent lower than PG&E’s.

For many, farmers markets aren't a SNAP

For many, farmers markets aren't a SNAP

MUNCIE -- Overweight? Looking to lose some of that excess poundage?

Forget the fad diet where you eat nothing but chocolate pudding and walnuts. What you need is a farmers market.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actually counting on farmers markets to help fight obesity in adults and children.

Trouble is, while the number of Indiana farmers markets is increasing, access for low-income people and families is currently limited.
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Bloomington is the only Farmers Market in the state authorized to accept food stamps (now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP).

"It would be great to get fresh fruits and veggies out to everyone, but we applied for a (federal) grant to get funding for EBT and did not get the grant," said Camellia Eckert, manager of the Minnetrista Farmers Market. "We needed the funding to help pay for manpower and other expenses."

EBT stands for Electronic Benefit Transfer. With EBT, Indiana no longer issues paper food stamp coupons or checks. Instead, recipients receive a plastic debit card called a Hoosier Works Card that is similar to an ATM or debit card.

Sixty-four percent of Hoosier adults and 29 percent of Indiana high school students are either overweight or obese.

The CDC's obesity prevention strategy calls for more physical activity, more fruits and vegetables, more breastfeeding, less fast food, less sugar-sweetened beverages and less time in front of the television.

"A diet high in fruits and vegetables is important for optimal child growth, management of weight and prevention of chronic diseases," Laura Hormuth, a nutrition coordinator for the Indiana State Department of Health, said during the recent Indiana Horticultural Congress in Indianapolis. "They are high in fiber content and water and low in calories."

Very few Americans consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables -- eight to 13 half-cup servings a day, she said.

But if they did, what better way to get fresh produce than a farmers market? While SNAP families can buy canned or fresh fruit and vegetables in grocery stores, Hormuth thinks those items are often not as fresh or flavorful as those found in farmers markets.

However, there is a cost for farmers markets and vendors to operate the electronic readers through which EBT cards are run. The state is making 20 of the devices available to farmers markets for free.

Low-income pregnant and postpartum women, as well as their infants and children up to age five, can shop at Minnetrista with government WIC (Women, Infants and Children) vouchers. Low-income seniors older than 60 also can shop at the market with government vouchers.

But that still leaves a large number of low-income Hoosiers over the age of five and under the age of 60 who cannot spend their food stamps at the market.

"There are a lot of families on food stamps in this economy," Hormuth said.

School officials plan garden to help fight obesity - Miami Herald

School officials plan garden to help fight obesity


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Children in one South Florida school district will begin growing fruits and vegetables as part of an effort to fight against childhood obesity.

The Palm Beach County School District received a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to grow the food and learn to eat better during the next four years.

The district will focus the program in a central Palm Beach County area where many residents are poor.

A district official said the district will organize farmers' markets where the food will be sold or given away.

Mobile produce coming back to Chicago

Fresh Produce mobile back in Chicago

January 31, 2010
By Casey Toner

For three years, low-income residents have looked to the Greater Chicago Food Depository's fresh produce mobile for fruits and vegetables.

Twice a month, the van would stop in Chicago Heights and distribute the healthy goods.

That is, until it stopped coming in June because the Chicago Miracle Temple Church in Chicago Heights could no longer pay for its insurance.

According to co-pastor Cheryl Anderson, the price of insurance was too much to keep the service. Maintaining insurance for the church as well as the vehicle was $1,200 to $1,400 a month.

"It's a killer," Anderson said. "I was very upset and I cried. To have a certificate of insurance for everything I want to give to the poor is a little bit unbalanced and it weighs heavily on my heart."

Anderson said the food van, which served about 200 families a month and packed 15,000 pounds of produce per visit, is a precious supplier of nutrition for those who need it most.

Families without the money to buy the goods at a grocery store could always count on getting as many as 12 bags of food a month from the fresh produce mobile.

"People are struggling with obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes," Anderson said. "Fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive. A lot of those people have dietary constraints and they need to eat the right types of antioxidant foods."

The good news is that the fresh produce mobile is returning to the city in March. The truck will be stopping by its old stomping grounds - at 10:30 a.m. March 11 at the Chicago Heights Park District, 1400 Chicago Road.

Through generous donations and a new insurance broker, Anderson said her church scraped up the needed funds to revive the program.

The church is now buying its insurance from the Indiana-based Rothchild Agency for between $1,000 and $1,200 a month.

Additionally, Flossmoor orthopedic surgeon Anthony Brown donated $3,000 to the church on the recommendation of a high-profile Chicago Heights client.

Chicago Heights Police Chief Michael Camilli, who broke his ankle when he fell off a ladder in his garage in October, brought it up to Brown when he was seeing him for treatment.

Camilli said Brown and his wife were looking to donate money to charities during Christmas. Having heard about the church's financial struggles, Camilli recommended the Chicago Miracle Temple Church.

"They do great things in the community," Camilli said. "It made me feel good that someone who did want to donate to a worthy cause found a worthy cause and that I'm part of the community. I just hooked up two people who wanted to be hooked up."

What a hook-up it was. Anderson credited the donation with helping her keep the church, and all of its outreach programs, afloat.

"He and his wife saved the food pantry," Anderson said. "We were struggling to buy food and the de-mand exceeded our ability to do it."

Now that the church's coffers have more dough, the low-income families in the community can again eat healthy food.

"I know that it's going to help a lot of people with dietary concerns and people who are out of work and those who are the working poor," Anderson said.

"We'll give them cantaloupes and blueberries and corn and cabbage. They get artichokes and avocados and stuff like that. They're like, 'Wow, Reverend, this is like gourmet!' "

Study: local food has positive impact on rurual Iowa

Increased demand in metropolitan areas for locally grown food could have a positive impact on neighboring rural economies in southwest Iowa, a report from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture shows.

Iowa State University economist David Swenson worked with the Leopold Center, two local food councils and the Southwest Iowa Food and Farming Initiative to conduct an analysis for 10 counties in southwest Iowa.

Results showed that a modest increase in fruit and vegetable production could bring an additional $2.7 million in labor income and the equivalent of 45 farm-level jobs to the region.

A key assumption in Swenson's analysis is for farmers in the region to grow enough of 22 fruits and vegetables to meet local consumption during a typical Iowa growing season, or about four months of the year. Such a scenario would require about 900 acres of new fruit and vegetable production, and would generate $2.4 million in sales, $930,000 in labor incomes and nearly 16 jobs for the region.

Swenson's report is available at www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/marketing_files/swiowa.html.