More questions than answers in tomato probe
More questions than answers in tomato probe
WASHINGTON -- With Food & Drug Administration investigators searching for clues in Florida and Mexico as part of the traceback investigation involving tomatoes contaminated with Salmonella, some people are questioning what has gone wrong with the probe into the outbreak that has sickened more than 600 people, and which has taken more than three weeks.
FDA sent teams of multi-disciplinary experts to both Mexico and Florida to conduct joint inspections on the farms and other tomato-handling sites throughout the distribution chain. As of this publication's press time, FDA had yet to announce any findings from the trips.
Records on those tomatoes that sickened people have led investigators back to Mexico and Florida, and since it is impossible for both to be responsible for the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak, the agency agreed to send investigators to both locations to narrow it down, said an FDA spokesperson.
When tracebacks lead to Florida and Mexico, clearly something is amiss, said Kathy Means, vice president of government relations for the Produce Marketing Association. PMA and the United Fresh Produce Association have asked for a high-level meeting with government officials on how the outbreak has been handled.
"It should be going faster, but whose fault is it?" asked Ms. Means.
Tomato operations may think they have a traceability system, but in some cases they don't, she said. Perhaps FDA needs more help from industry experts, she added. "Does FDA have enough people investigating the outbreak?"
Tony Corbo, food safety director for Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization based in Washington, DC, that that works to ensure clean water and safe food, said that it is frustrating that FDA will not disclose even how many people it sent to Florida and Mexico. "It's very hard to figure out what they've been doing," he said.
In what appears to be a shift in focus, FDA officials made it clear at a June 20 press briefing that the investigation may not lead them to a farm.
"Number one, we don't know for certain that the contamination occurred on a farm," said David Acheson, FDA associate commissioner for foods. "The contamination may have occurred upstream of the farm in a distribution center or a packingshed [or a] warehouse. And it's important that we inspect in those areas to rule that out."
This new focus on repackers or distribution centers, in turn, raises issues about the relevance of a list of cleared production states and countries.
FDA is recommending that people not eat raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw red round tomatoes grown and harvested from Mexico unless they were produced in the following states: Aguascalientes, Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, M?xico, Michoac?n, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Le?n, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quer?taro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potos?, Sonora, Tobasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucat?n, Zacatecas. The following Florida counties can ship if they have a certificate issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte.
At least one state -- New Mexico -- has placed a so-called tomato embargo, telling the state's businesses not to accept tomatoes grown in locations other than those cleared on FDA's safety list. Counties, states and countries listed by FDA either began harvesting commercial tomatoes after the outbreak onset period, do not ship tomatoes out-of-state or did not ship to states with confirmed illnesses.
"The Environment Department is stepping up its activities with tomato distributors in the state to assure that no tomatoes are being sold from specific areas of concern in Mexico and Florida," New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said in a statement. "Any tomatoes identified as coming from those areas will be embargoed."
Back on May 31, New Mexico epidemiologists found that tomatoes linked to the outbreak were sold to a few retailers who told them the tomatoes were from Mexico, but the agency did not have the authority to track records any further, according to New Mexico Department of Health Communications Director Deborah Busemeyer.
As of June 24, 652 people infected with the same genetic fingerprint of Salmonella saintpaul have been identified in 34 states and the District of Columbia. At least 71 people have been hospitalized. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has suggested that, due to underreporting, thousands of people actually may be sick from the outbreak.
Ms. Means said that it would help the produce industry if CDC ranked illnesses by where they were exposed to the tomatoes and not where they live. This would help industry document a distribution pattern, she said. Exposure information, such as where the consumers ate the tomatoes, is not shared with industry, she added.
Another problem is the lag some states experience reporting their cases of Salmonella poisoning because of resource constraints, she said. In Mexico, the tomato outbreak was one of the topics discussed when U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt traveled there to tour a food facility and push for FDA to be allowed to open an office in Latin America.
"We've had two incidents in the last month-and-a-half: the Honduran cantaloupe and now the tomatoes," the Associated Press quoted Secretary Leavitt as saying in Mexico City.
"What it demonstrates is that when these incidents occur, we need a quick response," he said.
FDA sent teams of multi-disciplinary experts to both Mexico and Florida to conduct joint inspections on the farms and other tomato-handling sites throughout the distribution chain. As of this publication's press time, FDA had yet to announce any findings from the trips.
Records on those tomatoes that sickened people have led investigators back to Mexico and Florida, and since it is impossible for both to be responsible for the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak, the agency agreed to send investigators to both locations to narrow it down, said an FDA spokesperson.
When tracebacks lead to Florida and Mexico, clearly something is amiss, said Kathy Means, vice president of government relations for the Produce Marketing Association. PMA and the United Fresh Produce Association have asked for a high-level meeting with government officials on how the outbreak has been handled.
"It should be going faster, but whose fault is it?" asked Ms. Means.
Tomato operations may think they have a traceability system, but in some cases they don't, she said. Perhaps FDA needs more help from industry experts, she added. "Does FDA have enough people investigating the outbreak?"
Tony Corbo, food safety director for Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization based in Washington, DC, that that works to ensure clean water and safe food, said that it is frustrating that FDA will not disclose even how many people it sent to Florida and Mexico. "It's very hard to figure out what they've been doing," he said.
In what appears to be a shift in focus, FDA officials made it clear at a June 20 press briefing that the investigation may not lead them to a farm.
"Number one, we don't know for certain that the contamination occurred on a farm," said David Acheson, FDA associate commissioner for foods. "The contamination may have occurred upstream of the farm in a distribution center or a packingshed [or a] warehouse. And it's important that we inspect in those areas to rule that out."
This new focus on repackers or distribution centers, in turn, raises issues about the relevance of a list of cleared production states and countries.
FDA is recommending that people not eat raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw red round tomatoes grown and harvested from Mexico unless they were produced in the following states: Aguascalientes, Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, M?xico, Michoac?n, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Le?n, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quer?taro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potos?, Sonora, Tobasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucat?n, Zacatecas. The following Florida counties can ship if they have a certificate issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte.
At least one state -- New Mexico -- has placed a so-called tomato embargo, telling the state's businesses not to accept tomatoes grown in locations other than those cleared on FDA's safety list. Counties, states and countries listed by FDA either began harvesting commercial tomatoes after the outbreak onset period, do not ship tomatoes out-of-state or did not ship to states with confirmed illnesses.
"The Environment Department is stepping up its activities with tomato distributors in the state to assure that no tomatoes are being sold from specific areas of concern in Mexico and Florida," New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said in a statement. "Any tomatoes identified as coming from those areas will be embargoed."
Back on May 31, New Mexico epidemiologists found that tomatoes linked to the outbreak were sold to a few retailers who told them the tomatoes were from Mexico, but the agency did not have the authority to track records any further, according to New Mexico Department of Health Communications Director Deborah Busemeyer.
As of June 24, 652 people infected with the same genetic fingerprint of Salmonella saintpaul have been identified in 34 states and the District of Columbia. At least 71 people have been hospitalized. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has suggested that, due to underreporting, thousands of people actually may be sick from the outbreak.
Ms. Means said that it would help the produce industry if CDC ranked illnesses by where they were exposed to the tomatoes and not where they live. This would help industry document a distribution pattern, she said. Exposure information, such as where the consumers ate the tomatoes, is not shared with industry, she added.
Another problem is the lag some states experience reporting their cases of Salmonella poisoning because of resource constraints, she said. In Mexico, the tomato outbreak was one of the topics discussed when U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt traveled there to tour a food facility and push for FDA to be allowed to open an office in Latin America.
"We've had two incidents in the last month-and-a-half: the Honduran cantaloupe and now the tomatoes," the Associated Press quoted Secretary Leavitt as saying in Mexico City.
"What it demonstrates is that when these incidents occur, we need a quick response," he said.
