Industry rallies around lettuce safety standards
Industry rallies around lettuce safety standards
SALINAS, CA -- Fresh produce industry leaders representing all the major trade associations congregated here Dec. 13 for a forum on assuring a safe supply of lettuce for consumers as well as retail and foodservice buyers with an eye toward eliminating any incidence of foodborne illness associated with California lettuce.
The forum was prompted by a November letter addressed to "California firms that grow, pack, process or ship fresh and fresh-cut lettuce" and written by Dr. Robert Brackett, director of the Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition for the Food & Drug Administration. In the letter, Dr. Brackett expressed the FDA's "serious concern with the outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of fresh and fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy greens." He went on to "strongly encourage" firms to review their current operations. He wrote that the FDA is aware of "18 outbreaks of foodborne illness since 1995 caused by E. coli O157:H7 for which fresh or fresh-cut lettuce was implicated as the outbreak vehicle."
An additional case involving fresh-cut spinach brought the total to 19 outbreaks accounting for about 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," he wrote.
The meeting included leaders from the ag industry, the regulatory community and every major agricultural organization. In addition to Dr. Brackett, among the government attendees were Dr. Jeff Farrar of the California Department of Health Services and Dr. Richard Breitmeyer from the California Department of Food & Agriculture. Chief executive officers and key officials from trade associations included Tom Stenzel, Dr. Jim Gorny and Jeff Oberman from United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association; Tom Nassif, Matt McInerney and Hank Giclas from Western Growers Association; Kathy Means from the Produce Marketing Association; Jerry Welcome and Dr. Dave Gombas from the International Fresh-cut Produce Association; Belinda Platts from the California Lettuce Research Board; Joann Greathead of the Central California Lettuce Producers Cooperative; Teresa Thorne from the Alliance for Food & Farming; and Dave Cramer and Jim Bogart from Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. A company owner, principal, CEO or senior-level management member of virtually every major shipper of California produce was represented.
The meeting included a summarization of consensus points and a listing of "action items" that FDA, DHS and industry may collaborate on. Though the Dec. 13 meeting was held here in lettuce stronghold Salinas -- at Grower-Shipper Association of Central California's building -- the point was made clear in a follow-up session between some of the forum's members and the trade media that lettuce safety is a national issue.
"We're serious about protecting public health," Dr. Brackett said. "It is a nationwide industry problem."
One upshot of the meeting was that a supply-chain guidance document will be drawn up as a form of best practices guidelines for the lettuce industry.
Ms. Means said that the meeting was "unprecedented" in that it drew regulators, trade associations and roughly 95 percent of the Salinas lettuce industry. She said operators should check their food-safety programs, adding, "Buyers are requiring food safety programs."
Mr. Giclas said that the lettuce industry had been talking in November and December about ways to improve its procedures to try to ensure that no foodborne illnesses occur. He said that there's a concern about an erosion of trust, and "we need to restore the confidence of the buying community, both retail and wholesale buyers." Mr. Giclas added that there would be a joint effort of industry organizations to look at where the top areas of risk are and to prioritize those risks.
Mr. Gorny said that both short- and long-term strategies are being planned, some will be implemented in the first quarter of 2006, and a draft for lettuce guidelines will go out to the industry in the next few weeks.
Dr. Brackett said that compared with a decade ago, there is a real increase in foodborne outbreaks. He said that food safety "is not a competitive issue."
Mr. Welcome said that there's "no magic process" to identifying the problem of foodborne illness and the fact that people's reputations are "on the line" is a strong measure of prevention from running lax agricultural operations.
Mr. Bogart of Grower-Shipper Association of Central California said that industry members in the Salinas area consider themselves to be industry leaders in technology, food safety and good agricultural practices, but that "one incident is one incident too many."
The forum was prompted by a November letter addressed to "California firms that grow, pack, process or ship fresh and fresh-cut lettuce" and written by Dr. Robert Brackett, director of the Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition for the Food & Drug Administration. In the letter, Dr. Brackett expressed the FDA's "serious concern with the outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of fresh and fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy greens." He went on to "strongly encourage" firms to review their current operations. He wrote that the FDA is aware of "18 outbreaks of foodborne illness since 1995 caused by E. coli O157:H7 for which fresh or fresh-cut lettuce was implicated as the outbreak vehicle."
An additional case involving fresh-cut spinach brought the total to 19 outbreaks accounting for about 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," he wrote.
The meeting included leaders from the ag industry, the regulatory community and every major agricultural organization. In addition to Dr. Brackett, among the government attendees were Dr. Jeff Farrar of the California Department of Health Services and Dr. Richard Breitmeyer from the California Department of Food & Agriculture. Chief executive officers and key officials from trade associations included Tom Stenzel, Dr. Jim Gorny and Jeff Oberman from United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association; Tom Nassif, Matt McInerney and Hank Giclas from Western Growers Association; Kathy Means from the Produce Marketing Association; Jerry Welcome and Dr. Dave Gombas from the International Fresh-cut Produce Association; Belinda Platts from the California Lettuce Research Board; Joann Greathead of the Central California Lettuce Producers Cooperative; Teresa Thorne from the Alliance for Food & Farming; and Dave Cramer and Jim Bogart from Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. A company owner, principal, CEO or senior-level management member of virtually every major shipper of California produce was represented.
The meeting included a summarization of consensus points and a listing of "action items" that FDA, DHS and industry may collaborate on. Though the Dec. 13 meeting was held here in lettuce stronghold Salinas -- at Grower-Shipper Association of Central California's building -- the point was made clear in a follow-up session between some of the forum's members and the trade media that lettuce safety is a national issue.
"We're serious about protecting public health," Dr. Brackett said. "It is a nationwide industry problem."
One upshot of the meeting was that a supply-chain guidance document will be drawn up as a form of best practices guidelines for the lettuce industry.
Ms. Means said that the meeting was "unprecedented" in that it drew regulators, trade associations and roughly 95 percent of the Salinas lettuce industry. She said operators should check their food-safety programs, adding, "Buyers are requiring food safety programs."
Mr. Giclas said that the lettuce industry had been talking in November and December about ways to improve its procedures to try to ensure that no foodborne illnesses occur. He said that there's a concern about an erosion of trust, and "we need to restore the confidence of the buying community, both retail and wholesale buyers." Mr. Giclas added that there would be a joint effort of industry organizations to look at where the top areas of risk are and to prioritize those risks.
Mr. Gorny said that both short- and long-term strategies are being planned, some will be implemented in the first quarter of 2006, and a draft for lettuce guidelines will go out to the industry in the next few weeks.
Dr. Brackett said that compared with a decade ago, there is a real increase in foodborne outbreaks. He said that food safety "is not a competitive issue."
Mr. Welcome said that there's "no magic process" to identifying the problem of foodborne illness and the fact that people's reputations are "on the line" is a strong measure of prevention from running lax agricultural operations.
Mr. Bogart of Grower-Shipper Association of Central California said that industry members in the Salinas area consider themselves to be industry leaders in technology, food safety and good agricultural practices, but that "one incident is one incident too many."
