Time for California to Enter the 21st Century
Fortunately, as far as we know, no one has died, and there are no reported illnesses from the latest discovery of the dangerous E. coli bacteria found in packages of Dole lettuce by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday that has resulted in a recall of lettuce in Canada and Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and other states here in the U.S. The mix of lettuce that was recalled was not sold in California.
We now know, only as of yesterday, that two of the lettuces in this mix produced in Ohio came from the Salinas Valley. That was reported late yesterday by the Oakland Tribune and came as an admission by Dole Fresh Vegetables president Eric Schwartz. But in the article, Schwartz refuses to identify the fields where the lettuce was grown, because of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Food and Drug Administration.
As we wait for more definitive information on the source of the deadly E. coli, Dean Florez, Chair of the California Senate Select Committee on Food-borne Illness, is clearly frustrated that a year’s worth of industry-professed “progress” since the deadly E. coli outbreaks of 2006 has failed to create a traceback system that can immediately identify where the contaminated produce originated.
“Dole was on TV in California this spring saying they had a computer chip in each box that would allow them to trace a head of lettuce to a 30’x50’ space within a field, yet here we are days into a recall impacting industry and consumers in two nations, and we have only narrowed the source down to three states,” Florez said. “There is quite a bit of discrepancy between what consumers are being promised and what is being delivered when it comes to food safety.”
Ultimately, Florez noted, it was once again government — and not the “market forces” touted by industry — which caught the contaminated produce once it had reached stores in Canada and several U.S. states, hopefully containing an outbreak before anyone became seriously ill. Infection by E. coli bacteria can lead to permanent kidney damage or even death, particularly in vulnerable populations such as the elderly and very young children.
Monday, Florez called on the secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture for answers. Along with the rest of us, he’s still waiting. The silence from the CDFA is deafening. And there is nothing I can find on their site.
The lack of information is exemplified by a comment by John Baillie, a local packer in Monday’s Monterey Herald:”We’re all walking on this ice already because they don’t even know where the E. coli comes from. We’re on pins and needles, and we don’t need this.”
After two outbreaks of E. coli from California leafy greens killed at least three people and sickened hundreds nationwide in 2006, Florez authored legislation to regulate the industry, establishing clear standards for best agricultural practices, increasing in-field inspections and creating the standard for an effective traceback system to prevent an industry-wide economic hit such as was the case in 2006.
Florez has a package of legislation that has already passed the California Senate but is bottled up in the Assembly Agriculture Committee, just a few votes from going to the Governor:
SB 200 allows the Department of Health Services to recall or destroy produce that may pose a threat to public health and creates an inspection program to proactively address the threat of outbreaks.
SB 201 mandates good agricultural practices for growers of leafy greens–from worker hygiene to the creation of buffer zones between fields and potential contamination sources–such as sources that may have been responsible in a 2006 outbreak.
SB 202 calls for the creation of a traceback system that would spare growers from the financial pain felt in 2006 when all leafy greens were suspect due to the actions of one small farm. Under an effective traceback system, the specifics lots containing suspect produce could be isolated and destroyed.
The leafy green industry fought the legislation and pushed for a “voluntary food safety program.” Despite the industry’s previous failure to act on multiple warnings from the Food and Drug Administration regarding nearly two dozen outbreaks, the Assembly Agriculture Committee shelved Florez’s legislation in favor of giving industry one more chance to self-police.
“In the end, it is government which is ultimately responsible for protecting the health of the public and which has proven itself the last line of defense between industry and consumers,” Florez said, adding, “We shouldn’t be constrained in our efforts to do our job of protecting the public by a hodge-podge of standards and practices by individual companies whose end goal is profit.”
“I am very concerned that any produce subject to the leafy greens marketing agreement could make it not only to store shelves but into a foreign nation’s distribution system before contamination was found,” Florez said. “If this is California produce, we will expect to see that an effective traceback system was in place to allow us to determine exactly what happened and who is responsible, as promised in the LGMA. I’m sure the public is as interested as I am in seeing what type of penalties will be applied under the marketing agreement to effect real change in industry behavior.”
Less than three weeks ago, California grower Metz Fresh recalled 8000 cartons of spinach — which had already been delivered to stores — over concerns of salmonella contamination.
Last year, it was Dole spinach from the Salinas Valley area that was the source of an E. coli bacteria outbreak that killed 3 people and sickened 205 around the country.
The Canadian government has special requirements for the importation of leafy greens from California which includes a declaration that it is a signatory of the voluntary Leafy Green Marketing Agreement. It is unclear if that has been complied with here since the lettuce was processed in Ohio.
Here is part of Florez’s letter to the Secretary of the California Dept. of Food & Agriculture:
“I am writing to express my continued concern regarding the safety of leafy green produce grown in California. Less than three weeks have passed since the recent salmonella contamination incident, which the Department has yet to provide adequate response to the Committee’s inquiry. Today, the Canadian Government has issued a nationwide recall of Dole Brand ready to eat salad mix due to possible E. coli 0157:H7 contamination. It is my understanding that the recalled produce was grown in the United States.
“I am concerned because the Canadian Government recently announced that it would only allow the import of California leafy green produce that is subject to the LGMA. The issuance of a nationwide recall by the Canadian Government is also significant because during the last E. coli 0157:H7 spinach outbreak, the Canadian Government closed their market to foreign leafy green produce. This caused a significant negative impact on California growers. As we move forward it is clear that there is a serious question of confidence in California’s leafy green produce industry.
“Accordingly, please identify whether the produce subject to the Canadian Government’s national recall was grown in California. This should be easy to determine quickly given the LGMA requires the use of a “trace-back system.” This information should be provided to the Committee immediately upon determination.”
We have published an article by the Director of the West Coast Office of Consumers Union: California Leafy Green Industry’s Marketing Agreement Will Not Ensure Nation’s Salad Bowl is Safe. That article is one of many on the E. coli and other outbreaks from California grown leafy green that can be found under Food Safety from the California Progress Report.
It’s time for passage of the Florez legislation and for the state to play an active role on food safety. We cannot afford to wait for a future outbreak that will kill. This is in line with the reform started by Theodore Roosevelt and his contemporaries and spawned by Upton Sinclair’s, The Jungle a century ago. It is hard to believe that in the 21st Century, in California, that there are those who are so anti-government in office that they will not have our state perform one of it’s most basic functions–protect Californians and others basic health in the food we eat.
