FDA, not industry, must set salad safety standards

This weekend, Ippolito International, a signatory of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, announced a new recall of loose spinach, due to salmonella contamination, that was distributed in 12 states and Canada.  The recall comes just before a U.S. Department of Agriculture hearing on whether to take the California LGMA national as a model for assuring the safety of leafy greens. Consumers Union thinks this model is not the way to go, and will oppose a national USDA-sponsored LGMA in testimony this week in Monterrey, California.

These days, most people agree we have a food safety problem.  An earlier case of contaminated spinach, which broke into the national media three years ago this month, was the first in a series of major national food safety crises, now including peanut butter, pistachios and cookie dough. In the 2006 spinach recall, 200 people were sickened across 26 states, 100 of those were hospitalized and three died. One of the three was two-year-old Kyle Algood of Chubbuck, Idaho.  Tragically, his mother made him the smoothie that contained the raw spinach, wanting to give him some healthy food.

So far there have been no illnesses or deaths associated with this latest spinach recall.  But the recall underlines the fact that we still have a ways to go before the nation's food supply is as safe as it can and should be.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, which specifies certain safety measures that all signees agree to adhere to, may have improved certain industry practices.  But that agreement, and the one proposed for the entire nation, is voluntary—you don't have to sign up. Further, all the standards are decided by a board appointed by the industry itself, and small farmers and environmentalists have complained that it runs roughshod over environmental concerns.

Consumers Union believes that  a far better solution is to pass Food and Drug Adminstration food safety reform as soon as possible.  The FDA's weakness, in terms of lack of authority and resources, has created a vacuum that has allowed these problems to develop, and must be remedied.   The House passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act (HR 2749) in July.  Now the Senate, which is working on its own bill, S. 510, needs to act promptly.

Recall details
The Ippolito recall includes 1,715 cartons of bunch spinach: 1,515 were packed under the "Queen Victoria" brand and distributed to Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and British Columbia, Ontario and Manitoba, Canada. The remaining 200 cartons were packed under the "Tubby" label and distributed in California and New York. Details on how to identify the spinach are listed on the recall notice.

The FDA is advising consumers who purchased "Queen Victoria" or "Tubby" bunched spinach to dispose of the product or return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-831-772-9991 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PDT.

Comments

[eric]

one has to wonder about this: " But the recall underlines the fact that we still have a ways to go before the nation's food supply is as safe as it can and should be."

What about before all of these recalls? Did our country EVER have an issue with tainted food getting spread all around? What's causing this? Imports, cheap/crappy labor, greed in processing? What's made the change? THAT's the story I'd like to see.

As we move further away from a highly moral society (accepting illegal workers, greedy - buck over anything, etc), I see more and more things like this occuring.