Senate hearing focuses on speed of spinach contamination probe
Senate hearing focuses on speed of spinach contamination probe
WASHINGTON -- State and federal health officials said that the recent E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak tied to fresh spinach was a fine example of quick detective work and good coordination among agencies despite concerns raised at a Senate hearing about the speed in which the public was notified of the outbreak.
In the first congressional hearing on the matter, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's Robert Brackett said that federal officials learned more during this outbreak than all others combined, and that the internal response time was "as fast and as efficient as we could have possibly hoped."
But Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) questioned officials at the Nov. 15 hearing about why it took days to announce the outbreak after Wisconsin began identifying cases. Wisconsin posted information about a disease cluster on Sept. 8, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention did not confirm those cases until Sept. 11. FDA warned the public about the risks of eating fresh spinach on Sept. 14.
There are opportunities to shorten that timeline, said Lonnie King of CDC, but it took only two weeks between diagnosing patients and pinpointing spinach as the likely cause of the outbreak.
Once the investigation was narrowed to spinach, Kevin Reilly, deputy director for prevention services of the California Department of Health Services, called it "unprecedented" that inspectors could name the farms within a week of identifying the likely source of the illnesses.
Robert Whitaker, president of Salinas, CA-based MissionStar Processing, said that the spinach industry paid the price of being caught up in FDA's blanket spinach warning even though the problem was with a few farms that supplied spinach to one plant.
"I am proud of the way our entire industry responded to FDA's immediate concern, but also concerned that we did not communicate to consumers that it was safe to consume spinach that was not implicated in the recall," he said. Mr. Whitaker's company is a joint venture between Salinas grower-shippers NewStar Fresh Foods and Misionero Vegetables, and produces a variety of spinach, spring mix and blended baby leaf salads.
He said that the "de facto recall across an entire industry" has penalized the entire industry because the losses incurred by some companies were not covered by insurance as they were not part of the formal recall.
"We strongly urge the committee to work with FDA, CDC and other agencies to more quickly limit the scope of concern in an outbreak such as this," he said.
Dr. Reilly of the California Department of Health Services told a Senate committee that it is still unclear why the Salinas Valley appears to suffer from "systemic contamination" of E. coli 0157:H7 which has "led to a number of fresh produce-associated outbreaks over time." Since 2004, U.S. Department of Agriculture has found E. coli 0157:H7 in waterways throughout Salinas Valley and the region has been linked to at least nine of the last 20 disease outbreaks involving leafy greens.
It's very distressing that E. coli is so widespread in the area that's known as the nation's salad bowl, said Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY), who called the hearing on the government's response to the spinach outbreak.
The spinach-growing field under scrutiny in this probe is no different than other fields in the valley that have risk factors for animal, water and worker contamination, said Dr. Reilly. This particular field concerned investigators even before sampling because it was surrounded by hills and cattle pastures, and there was evidence of "pig highways" throughout the area. The outbreak strain has been found in a nearby stream, wild pigs and cattle feces, all of which may have caused the field to be contaminated.
Another concern, said Dr. Reilly, is that California and FDA officials had kicked off a lettuce safety initiative with Salinas Valley growers and processors right before the spinach outbreak to assess practices on the farm and during processing.
"Although the initiative was in place for only a few weeks prior to being suspended with the onset of the multi-state spinach-associated E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, preliminary findings on the farms showed that many growers were not implementing [Good Agricultural Practices] and several were not aware of recommended GAPs," he said.
While health officials might never determine exactly what happened in the fields during or right before the harvested spinach went into the Aug. 15 production lots at Natural Selections Foods, Dr. Reilly said, "We can reinforce the idea that good agricultural practices implemented consistently on every farm growing fresh, ready-to-eat produce will significantly reduce the risk for contamination."
Dr. Reilly and Mr. Whitaker called for Congress to fund research that could help the industry prevent future disease outbreaks. GAPs and HACCP plans are based on science.
"We don't have enough science to base those on," said Dr. Reilly.
Mr. Whitaker said that finding dedicated funding for fresh produce safety research was a top priority for the industry.
Meanwhile, a consumer group filed a petition with FDA urging the agency to write federal produce regulations that would include inspections and standards for manure, water and farm sanitation. The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned California officials to institute similar state regulations last month.
"You can't start at the supermarket or even the packing facility if you're trying to ensure the safety of melons, tomatoes, spinach and other fruits and vegetables. It all starts with safe farming practices," said CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal, who complained that consumer groups were not invited to the Nov. 15 hearing. "It is time for FDA to institute programs to prevent what happened this fall with spinach instead of rushing in after the fact to alert the public to avoid a hazardous food product."
In the first congressional hearing on the matter, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's Robert Brackett said that federal officials learned more during this outbreak than all others combined, and that the internal response time was "as fast and as efficient as we could have possibly hoped."
But Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) questioned officials at the Nov. 15 hearing about why it took days to announce the outbreak after Wisconsin began identifying cases. Wisconsin posted information about a disease cluster on Sept. 8, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention did not confirm those cases until Sept. 11. FDA warned the public about the risks of eating fresh spinach on Sept. 14.
There are opportunities to shorten that timeline, said Lonnie King of CDC, but it took only two weeks between diagnosing patients and pinpointing spinach as the likely cause of the outbreak.
Once the investigation was narrowed to spinach, Kevin Reilly, deputy director for prevention services of the California Department of Health Services, called it "unprecedented" that inspectors could name the farms within a week of identifying the likely source of the illnesses.
Robert Whitaker, president of Salinas, CA-based MissionStar Processing, said that the spinach industry paid the price of being caught up in FDA's blanket spinach warning even though the problem was with a few farms that supplied spinach to one plant.
"I am proud of the way our entire industry responded to FDA's immediate concern, but also concerned that we did not communicate to consumers that it was safe to consume spinach that was not implicated in the recall," he said. Mr. Whitaker's company is a joint venture between Salinas grower-shippers NewStar Fresh Foods and Misionero Vegetables, and produces a variety of spinach, spring mix and blended baby leaf salads.
He said that the "de facto recall across an entire industry" has penalized the entire industry because the losses incurred by some companies were not covered by insurance as they were not part of the formal recall.
"We strongly urge the committee to work with FDA, CDC and other agencies to more quickly limit the scope of concern in an outbreak such as this," he said.
Dr. Reilly of the California Department of Health Services told a Senate committee that it is still unclear why the Salinas Valley appears to suffer from "systemic contamination" of E. coli 0157:H7 which has "led to a number of fresh produce-associated outbreaks over time." Since 2004, U.S. Department of Agriculture has found E. coli 0157:H7 in waterways throughout Salinas Valley and the region has been linked to at least nine of the last 20 disease outbreaks involving leafy greens.
It's very distressing that E. coli is so widespread in the area that's known as the nation's salad bowl, said Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY), who called the hearing on the government's response to the spinach outbreak.
The spinach-growing field under scrutiny in this probe is no different than other fields in the valley that have risk factors for animal, water and worker contamination, said Dr. Reilly. This particular field concerned investigators even before sampling because it was surrounded by hills and cattle pastures, and there was evidence of "pig highways" throughout the area. The outbreak strain has been found in a nearby stream, wild pigs and cattle feces, all of which may have caused the field to be contaminated.
Another concern, said Dr. Reilly, is that California and FDA officials had kicked off a lettuce safety initiative with Salinas Valley growers and processors right before the spinach outbreak to assess practices on the farm and during processing.
"Although the initiative was in place for only a few weeks prior to being suspended with the onset of the multi-state spinach-associated E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, preliminary findings on the farms showed that many growers were not implementing [Good Agricultural Practices] and several were not aware of recommended GAPs," he said.
While health officials might never determine exactly what happened in the fields during or right before the harvested spinach went into the Aug. 15 production lots at Natural Selections Foods, Dr. Reilly said, "We can reinforce the idea that good agricultural practices implemented consistently on every farm growing fresh, ready-to-eat produce will significantly reduce the risk for contamination."
Dr. Reilly and Mr. Whitaker called for Congress to fund research that could help the industry prevent future disease outbreaks. GAPs and HACCP plans are based on science.
"We don't have enough science to base those on," said Dr. Reilly.
Mr. Whitaker said that finding dedicated funding for fresh produce safety research was a top priority for the industry.
Meanwhile, a consumer group filed a petition with FDA urging the agency to write federal produce regulations that would include inspections and standards for manure, water and farm sanitation. The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned California officials to institute similar state regulations last month.
"You can't start at the supermarket or even the packing facility if you're trying to ensure the safety of melons, tomatoes, spinach and other fruits and vegetables. It all starts with safe farming practices," said CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal, who complained that consumer groups were not invited to the Nov. 15 hearing. "It is time for FDA to institute programs to prevent what happened this fall with spinach instead of rushing in after the fact to alert the public to avoid a hazardous food product."
