Freshway Foods Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Underscores Need for Food Safety Reforms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention freely admits that outbreaks of E. coli O145 go unreported because few clinical laboratories test for the pathogen even though it is every bit as dangerous as its toxic cousin, E. coli O157:H7.
The failure to test for the most common non-O157 E coli types, including E. coli O145, is one of the big reasons our office is calling for more federal regulation of lettuce and other fresh produce.
Here is how we addressed the issue in a Business Wire press release issued in conjunction with the Freshway Foods lettuce E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 29 people in Michigan, Ohio and New York:
Freshway Foods Lettuce E coli Outbreak Prompts Pritzker Olsen to Call for More Regulation
MINNEAPOLIS (Business Wire) — National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is calling for more federal regulation and enforcement authority over leafy green vegetables produced for U.S. consumption.
The call to action is in response to the current outbreak of E. coli O145 in Ohio, Michigan and New York that health investigators have linked to shredded Romaine lettuce processed by Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio. The outbreak, which has sickened at least 19 people, including 12 who were hospitalized, is just the latest in a string of more than 20 outbreaks of disease from contaminated leafy greens since 1997.
Based on Freshway’s recall of Romaine lettuce, potentially contaminated lettuce was distributed to food service outlets, including restaurants and delis, in some two dozen states east of the Mississippi River. The potential for a more sweeping outbreak was great because the produce industry is rife with food safety gaps.
“Leafy greens are chronically contaminated with disease-causing organisms in this country and there are scant protections,” said Attorney Fred Pritzker. “Families deserve a reliable food safety system that ends this threat.”
Pritzker’s firm has represented individuals who have been made gravely ill by E. coli in leafy greens, including victims of the deadly 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak that still stands as the country’s biggest and most costly. An industry-led marketing agreement with the California Department of Food and Agriculture was implemented in 2007 to establish a standard of best practices, but this voluntary framework is not enough.
The FDA and USDA should now develop a formal program devoted exclusively to regulating leafy greens and other fresh produce with mandated controls against pathogens from farm to fork. The protocols should include testing for E. coli O145 and the five other most common types of non-O157 Shiga toxin producing E. coli organisms. Despite acknowledgement of this gap by the CDC, these non-O157 E. coli types are currently ignored by regulation.
The FDA has acknowledged in the past that it has not yet been able to conduct work crucial to keeping E. coli and other pathogens out of fresh produce because it has lacked the resources to do so. It is now time for Congress to include the needed appropriations. Specifically, domestic fresh produce firms and leafy green imports require far greater inspection.
The Pritzker Olsen law firm, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, represents E. coli victims nationwide. The firm has obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in foodborne illness cases. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Fred Pritzker
Phone: 612-338-0202
Toll Free: 888-377-8900
Email: fhp@pritzkerlaw.com
Website: http://www.pritzkerlaw.com
Danger Still Lurks in Packaged Salad Greens
Foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls involving pre-packaged leafy greens have sickened thousands and killed scores of Americans during the past decade.
For example, just one incident, the 2006 California baby spinach outbreak, caused 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths. In the face of intense pressure to reform following that outbreak, California growers adopted voluntary standards that were touted as a significant food safety improvement.
But one has to wonder how far we have come based on the results of a new Consumer Reports study of various pre-washed, packaged salad greens.
As reported in the March 2010 issue, Consumer Reports product testers found unacceptable concentrations of fecal contamination and other bacteria when sampling 208 containers representing 16 different brands purchased at stores in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York.
“Several industry experts we consulted suggested that for leafy greens, an unacceptable level of total coliforms or enterococcus is 10,000 or more colony forming units per gram (CFU/g) or a comparable estimate. In our tests, 39 percent of samples exceeded that level for total coliforms and 23 percent for enterococcus,” the report said.
While this relatively small sample did not uncover traces of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella or Listeria, the coliforms and enterococcus are often used to gauge possible pathogen contamination.
Packages with higher bacteria levels had similarities, the report said. Many contained spinach and were one to five days from their use-by date. Packages six to eight days from their use-by date fared better.
The sample included greens packed in plastic clamsells and bags, which made no difference. Nor did it matter if the packages contained “baby” greens, or were organic.
Since 1993, at least 20 E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks have been traced to California-grown leafy greens – primarily lettuce and spinach. Most of these outbreaks involved packaged product that, despite several chlorinated washes, contained sufficient numbers of E. coli O157:H7 to cause infection at the time of consumption.
Based on the Consumer Reports research, it’s only a matter of time before we get hit again.
Lettuce Salmonella: How the Bug Invades Leaves
One of the confounding mysteries about lettuce Salmonella outbreaks and E. coli spinach outbreaks is how the microbes harbor inside the plants, too deep to be washed off the surface by consumers who are diligent about protecting themselves against potential food poisoning.
Now scientists in Israel have evidence of how the dangerous contamination occurs. In an experiment published this month in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers from the Microbial Food Safety Research Unit at the Volcani Center in Beth Dagan, Israel, witnessed rod-shaped Salmonella bacteria clustering at stomata openings on the leaves of iceberg lettuce. In fact, the journal’s cover photo this month shows exactly that.
The stomata are tiny pores plants use to obtain and release gases during photosynthesis, where light energy is captured and turned into sugars. The experiment found that exposure to light makes the internal invasion more likely. The Los Angeles Times reported that the scientists even created movies in which the pathogens are seen “moving toward and vanishing within the substomatal cavity when the experiments were performed in light, but not in dark.”
The microbiologists say their finding “has important implications for both pre- and post-harvest handling of lettuce and probably other leafy vegetables.”
Any advance in this area is welcomed by food safety advocates around the globe, especially since outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella involving leafy greens seem to be chronic occurrences, at least in the U.S. This summer, for instance, public health officials confirmed an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium that included at least 124 confirmed cases around the country, but mostly in the West.
An Oregon health official told The Oregonian newspaper that the outbreak peaked in Oregon in August but is now over. No recalls were associated with the outbreak because investigators couldn’t identifiy the source of the outbreak with enough certainty, but many victims reported eating shredded lettuce and fast food. At least two victims were seriously affected, requiring hospitalization.
Lettuce Salmonella Outbreak Under Investigation
State and federal health investigators are trying to determine the source of a possible lettuce Salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 124 people across the country before the outbreak subsided late last month.
William Keene, senior epidemiologist at Public Health Division in Oregon, told reporter Lynne Terry of The Oregonian newspaper that no recalls were associated with the outbreak. Health investigators’ interviews of victims suggested that shredded lettuce was a leading suspect in causing the outbreak, but by now the product is likely consumed. In addition, many victims said they had eaten at fast food restaurants, but Keene said officials are not warning people to avoid lettuce or fast food restaurants.
According to the newspaper, the first cases began in mid-July and the outbreak peaked and subsided by the end of August. Illnesses matching the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium were found across the country, but there was a clustering of cases in the West. In Oregon, two people were hospitalized, including one who was severely injured. No deaths were reported.
Outbreaks of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 caused by contaminated lettuce, spinach, parsley and other leafy green vegetables continue to be a problem in the United States despite hygiene and clean-water standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the industry itself. Both pathogens are carried in animal feces, which can travel into crop fields via irrigation or flooding. Manure itself, if it comes in contact with plants, can contaminate the crops and the problem can be exacerbated if contaminated lettuce or spinach is bagged in ready-to-eat packages.
That was the case with the Dole baby spinach E. coli outbreak in 2006.
Salmonella prevention strategies for consumers include washing fresh produce and being careful not to cross-contaminate kitchen surfaces with unwashed fruits and vegetables. But as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in a study of the baby spinach outbreak, washing leafy greens sometimes does not affect odds of becoming infected.
Possible reasons for this include that pathogens could get internalized into the plant structure by entering the roots. The CDC concluded that another possibility is that bacteria are more likely to adhere to cut surfaces of leafy greens (e.g. shredded lettuce?).
Fred Pritzker On Newsmakers
