E Coli Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark Law Firm : E. coli Blog

The USDA is proposing that they ask the public about whether the leafy green industry should be further regulated.

More regulation is the USDA's response to several E. coli outbreaks that have been the result of consumption of contaminated produce.

One option is a national version of the industry-developed standards that followed the E. coli outbreak and now govern California farmers and leafy green handlers. The USDA is considering both voluntary and mandatory standards, officials say, but favors a voluntary program that allows flexibility.

California and Arizona leafy greens producers have already signed marketing agreements that were designed to encourage good manufacturing practices across their industry, and the United Fresh Produce Association has asked the government to step in and regulate farming and processing practices for leafy greens.
 

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Dole Fresh Vegetables president Eric Schwartz has confirmed that the romaine and green leaf lettuce in its Hearts Delight salad mix was produced locally in the Salinas Valley and mixed with butter lettuce from Ohio and romaine from growers in Colorado.

The lettuces were processed at Dole's plant in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 6, said Schwartz. Eighty-eight cases — or 528 bags — were distributed in Canada and 755 cases containing 4,530 bags in the U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Dole Food Co, the parent company of Dole Fresh Vegetables, issued a voluntary recall Monday, one day after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued its own advisory in Canada.

Dole did confirm that the lettuce products had been shipped to several provinces in Canada as well as to Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

 

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Today, Hawaiian health officials announced that an E. coli outbreak in March has been traced to lettuce grown on Kaua'i.

All eight people were most likely infected by eating contaminated lettuce from a Kaua'i farm, where heavy rains and flooding had carried E. coli bacteria from a cattle pasture onto the lettuce patch.

Officials declined to name the farm they suspect was the source of the lettuce.

The state Department of Health said that the eight victims, including the four who required hospital care, have recovered without complications from the outbreak of a strain of E. coli O157, whose symptoms include abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea and which in severe cases can cause kidney failure.
 

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Federal and state regulators, researchers and lettuce industry representatives are scheduled to meet in Salinas for a foodborne illness outbreak summit, reports the Monterey Herald.

Organized by the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at the University of California-Davis, the meeting will focus in part on how investigations of leafy green-related outbreaks can be improved and what areas of research could help prevent outbreaks.

Scheduled speakers at the meeting include Dr. Robert Brackett, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, representatives for the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association and the Western Growers Association.

Since 1995, 19 outbreaks of E.coli O157:H7, involving 409 individuals who became ill and two others who died, have been connected to fresh lettuce and pre-cut lettuce and spinach, according to the FDA. In eight of those outbreaks, the produce came from Salinas.
 

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When it comes to eating our greens, many Americans are willing to pay the extra cost of buying the ready to use bagged salads for the sake of convenience and because it is believed they do not need to be washed before serving.

But Emily Jones of the Starkville Daily News warns shoppers that those bagged salads may not be as safe as they seem: cases of E. coli bacteria have been found in the product which is distributed by a number of produce companies.

The State Health Department has issued the following guidelines on how consumers can protect themselves from E. coli bacteria in lettuce:
 

• Be sure to wash your hands before handling lettuce or any raw produce - especially if you have been in contact with any raw meat.
• Even though most of these bagged salads are pre-washed and labeled "Ready to Eat," dietitians recommend that they be washed again.
• Keep salad refrigerated.
• Check the expiration date before you eat it. Even if lettuce looks fresh, the E. coli can grow quickly in greens that are old.
   

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