One day we’re told that the E. coli 0145-tainted romaine lettuce has caused serious illnesses in Ohio, New York and Michigan and that the distributors of the implicated product have issued recalls for all states east of the Mississippi River -plus a few Midwestern states. Weeks later we find out that there are further clusters of associated illnesses in Tennessee. Feeling safe yet?
If you’re even considering eating romaine lettuce you might also want to know the answers to these currently-unswered questions:
- Are growers and distributors even testing for E. coli 0145, which is far less common than the E. coli 0157 that’s typically implicated in leafy green situations?
- Do we know which farms the lettuce came from and which additional distributors they supply with the product? If so, which retailers and restaurants sell or serve this product?
- Are we sure that the source suppliers don’t use the same packing facilities and lines for other leafy greens? Could they also be tainted?
There are many other questions related to the growing, packing and distribution environments that will eventually lead us to the root cause, but none of these information holes can be filled until we know where, when and through whom these products orignated and were distributed. These are the essential answers that full-chain traceability can provide – and quickly!
While the U.S. Senate continues to water down the traceability and record-keeping requirements in the pending FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) prior to its introduction on the floor, we stand yet again in the middle of a foodbourne illness outbreak without the answers needed to confine its scope, duration and impact. If the Tester (D-Montana) Amendment is adopted and food entities with annual gross revenues under $500,000 are exempted from the traceabiliity requirements, would we really be safe? Safer? Less safe? Tell us what you think.
Tags: Food Safety, foodbourne illness, Romaine Lettuce Recall, S.510, Tester Amendment, Traceability
Спасибо вам за статьи я тут много узнал. Буду заходить чаще.
/ en: Thanks to you for the articles here, I learned much. I will come here more frequently
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Great. It’s the same here in New Zealand. Can be very amusing, but that’s life in our world.
Thanks for sharing this.
The information is good to know. It is sometimes hard to keep track with all the recalls out there. Your post is another good source that I will add and check from now on for updates. Keep up the hard work.
I don’t quite often reply to posts however I will in this case. WoW