Cantaloupe Outbreak is Showcase of Bad Policy
Although we expect the cantaloupe we eat to be safe and healthy and to be produced, marketed and sold in a reasonable manner, it often isn’t. In fact, this cantaloupe Listeria outbreak is a showcase of bad policy and repeated mistakes that was as foreseeable as it was preventable.
According to a 2006 study authored by epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the period between 1984 and 2002 there were no fewer than twenty-three cantaloupe-associated outbreaks in which almost 1500 people were sickened. This cantaloupe outbreak, the first one caused by Listeria, may prove to be the deadliest foodborne outbreak in U.S. history.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of this outbreak is that although we know what food caused it and where that food came from (Jensen Farms in Colorado), people continue to get sick and die from it. Why?
The first reason is because neither Jensen Farms nor the federal and state governments charged with investigating the outbreak have released the names of retailers that sold the contaminated fruit. And the reason they haven’t released those names? Because they don’t really know where the cantaloupe was sold. And the reason they don’t know is because effective trace back technology and practices were not in place.
The second reason is because cantaloupe is often sold without labels, or previously affixed labels fell off. Consumers simply cannot tell by looking at a cantaloupe where it was grown or whether it contains life-threatening pathogens. An untold number of unsuspecting people will continue eating Jensen Farms cantaloupe because they cannot find out if their retailer sold it and cannot tell by looking at the fruit if was produced by Jensen Farms.
You would think that if a company sells a product capable of producing injury and death across the United States there should be a way to trace the distribution of that product. There is. But as this outbreak tragically illustrates, the technology and practices that would have stopped this outbreak long before now weren’t applied to fungible food products like this one.
It’s not hard to envision how this would work. Cantaloupes, like other types of fruits and vegetables, could be sold in inexpensive mesh bags. Attached to the bags would be sufficient information to allow regulators (and the public) to know the producer, shipper, sell by dates and any other information including the best practices for preparing and consuming the product. You could, for example, easily create a method by which a QR code is affixed to the fruit so that consumers can quickly scan it with a cell phone app and learn where it came from and whether it is implicated in an outbreak.
Labeling and traceback issues in foodborne illness outbreaks are as foreseeable as human illness from the consumption of cantaloupe. It is insane that more people will continue to get sick and die because we don’t learn from our failures and because we don’t apply the tools and policies that we know will work.
One Ton of Burritos Recalled Because of Listeria
More than one ton of beef and bean burrito products are being recalled by Windsor Foods of Riverside, California, after the company detected the potentially deadly bacterium Listeria monocytogenes in a sample.
In this case, the individually wrapped burritos sold at retail do not bear any coding, so consumers should watch for any burrito sold under the “Butcher Boy” brand name. A list of stores where the burritos were delivered will be posted by the USDA when it becomes available.
The announcement was made Friday by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which noted a high health risk. So far, FSIS is not aware of illness reports from people who have eaten the Butcher Boy burritos.
The recall covers individually wrapped “Butcher Boy Red Chile Beef and Bean Burritos.” They come in 18-pound frozen cases with 72 burritos to a case. The recalled cases were produced August 3 and shipped to a food storage center in Minnesota for further distribution.
The cases are marked with USDA establishment number EST 1905, package code 1219215 and case code 2080001.
Listeria monocytogenes is less common than other pathogens that contaminate our food, but it can cause the potentially fatal disease of listeriosis – which killed 22 Canadians last year in a terrible outbreak caused by contaminated deli meats made in Toronto.
Listeriosis can cause high fever, stiff neck, severe headache and nausea. It carries an additional risk of infection to pregnant women because it is known to cause stillbirth or miscarriage.
Listeria Test Positive at Eggo Waffle Plant
A lab test for Listeria monocytogenes came back positive on a sample of Kellogg’s Buttermilk Waffles manufactured in Atlanta and the company closed the plant for deep cleaning.
The routine testing was conducted by the Georgia Agriculture Department on product that had not left the plant. But Kellogg’s recalled certain packs of Eggo Cinnamon Toast waffles and Eggo Toaster Swirls Cinnamon Roll Minis.
- The waffles have UPC code 3800040440 with “Best If Used Before” dates beginning with: Nov22 10 EA, NOV23 10 EA and NOV24 10 EA.
- The “Toaster Swirlz” have UPC code 3800023370 with a “Best If Used Before” date starting with NOV15 10 EA.
Listeria monocytogenes is a bacteria that poses a special risk to pregnant women because it can lead to stillbirth and miscarriage. Initial symptoms of listeriosis are usually flu-like. Most people are resistant to the bacteria and infections are uncommon, but outbreaks of the disease can turn deadly as Canada learned last year when deli meat made in Toronto became contaminated with Listeria, killing 22 people.
In the Kellogg’s action earlier this month, no illnesses had been reported in connection to the products under recall.
Mi Pueblito Cheese Recall Due to Possible Listeria Contamination
Quesos Mi Pueblito, LLC of Passaic, New Jersey, has recalled the following cheese products with Sell by Date from February 2, 2009 to present:
LA FE OAXACA STRING CHEESE
EL VIEJITO OAXACA CHEESE
MI PUEBLITO COTIJA/AñEJO
MI PUEBLITO CUAJADA FRESCA
MI PUEBLITO QUESO COLOMBIANO DE ARRIERO
MI PUEBLITO QUESO MOLIDO
MI PUEBLITO QUESO COTIJA TRIANGULO
MI PUEBLITO QUESO FRESCO
MI PUEBLITO QUESO FRESCO DE RANCHO
MI PUEBLITO QUESO CASERO
MI PUEBLITO QUESO OAXACA
MI PUEBLITO REQUESON
MI PUEBLITO SERRANO
The recalled Mi Pueblito cheese products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms, such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, infection can cause miscarriages and still births among pregnant women and life-threatening infections (Listeria sepsis and Listeria meningitis) in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
The recalled cheese was distributed in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia through Puebla Foods, INC., Passaic, N.J. to retail stores and wholesalers.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.
The recall is a result of sampling and analyses by the NJ Dept. of Health and Senior Services.
If no one has eaten any of the cheese, consumers who have purchased these products may return them to the place of purchase for a full refund, according to the FDA news release regarding this outbreak. If someone has eaten some of the cheese and is later diagnosed with listeriosis (Listeria infection), the leftover cheese may be able to be used as evidence in a suit against the manufacturer.
For more information about the Me Pueblito Cheese recall, please see the FDA news release.
Fred Pritzker On Newsmakers
