California Should Not Wait for More Deaths from E. Coli Before Policing Leafy Greens Industry

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Time for California to Enter the 21st Century

By Frank D. Russo

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.