I was reading the Meat Import Council of America (MICA) Newsletter, which is compiled by my friend Laurie Bryant. He grabs a dozen or so stories everyday that should be interesting to the group’s membership. He puts them in no particular order, just calls ‘em as he sees 'em.
And he put this unfortunate pair of stories back-to-back:
- E. coli Outbreak Sickens 10 in Germantown, Ohio
Food Safety News
by News Desk | Jul 09, 2012
WHIO TV has reported that at least 55 people have fallen ill with E. coli infections after eating at a picnic in Germantown, Ohio, according to the Dayton & Montgomery County Health Department. Approximately 10 people have been hospitalized, a health department spokesman said.
The exact source of the bacteria is unknown, and information on the strain has not been published. Further inquiries to the health department have not been returned as of press time.
Those ill attended a company picnic featuring 200 to 300 people. More attendees could have fallen ill who have not yet sought medical attention or been counted, the health department said.
- USDA Budget Cut Could Slash 80 Percent of Produce Testing
The nation's largest pathogen testing program may shut down this month
Food Safety News
by Helena Bottemiller | Jul 10, 2012
Public testing for pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria on fresh produce will drop by more than 80 percent if a key U.S. Department of Agriculture testing program is eliminated, according to an analysis by Food Safety News.
The USDA's Microbiological Data Program was zeroed out in the Obama administration's 2013 budget request and Congress is not seeking funding for the $4.5 million program next year. It is rumored that MDP is set to close down at the end of this month, but the Agricultural Marketing Service, where MDP is housed, would not confirm the program's status.
Now we’re (almost) all big boys and girls in the beef business and we know the damage an E. coli outbreak can do. It’s been spelled out all too often: Illness, death, lost consumer confidence. Saving a few nickels up front can quickly cost millions, maybe billions. Those few bucks saved by improper testing or no testing at all are deposited in the First Foolstown National Bank.
But there might be a few who still see a nearby branch of FFNB across the street and lust after its convenience. According to some reports, the budget cut was not driven by the meat industry. It was those produce people who pushed hard for it.
After the cantaloupe catastrophe? The deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in a quarter century? You would think they would take one look at that product killer and say, “Maybe we should back off and let the feds take care of this stuff.”
But, no. With the MDP program gone, there is an immediate benefit of less paperwork, faster product turns and a little more money deposited at FFNB at the end of the day. Not much, mind you, but a lot of producers would rather add a few extra nickels and dimes to their bottom line than let the feds nickel and dime them with rules and regs.
Colorado’s now-bankrupt Jensen Farms provides an example worth noting. On June 4, the Denver Post reported, “The possible settlement currently being discussed would set up a victims' fund of roughly $4 million, including $2 million from Jensen Farms' insurer,” (Attorney Bill) Marler said. “The remainder would come from the insurers of the equipment company and the safety auditor.”
The federal “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in December that 30 people died, 146 people were sickened, and one woman suffered a miscarriage,” due to the contaminated produce. The cause of it all was old and hard-to-clean potato washers converted to cantaloupe scrubbers, but they came cheap.
It’s a hard lesson to learn and there are still too many people who won’t go to school. I remember shortly after the after the massive 1997 Hudson Beef recall, Michael Mina, one of Al Almanza's predecessors at FSIS said, "There are two kinds of businesses in the meat industry; those that have had a recall and those that will have a recall."
And 15 years and who-knows-how-many meat industry recalls later, when Mina’s statement is becoming painfully obvious to the doubters, there are produce people who think they can operate more efficiently without testing? I would like to invite them to drop by Hudson Beef, but they’re out of business.
Bottemiller’s story reported that “The United Fresh Produce Association and the Produce Marketing Association, which represent the vast majority of the industry, have lobbied for ending MDP in part because they believe it is too slow to prevent illnesses.”
"By the time they detect something and notify FDA the product has already been eaten. They're not preventing anything. That produce is gone," said David Gombas, the senior vice president for food safety and technology at United Fresh, in an interview with Food Safety News last year. United Fresh did not respond to requests for comment on MDP's imminent shutdown.
What did the MDP program accomplish? From 2009 to 2012, they found Salmonella 100 times, E. coli O157:H7 twice, and Listeria monocytogenes 8 times. Over the same time period, the program sparked 23 Salmonella recalls, 2 E. coli O157:H7 recalls, and 5 Listeria recalls. Of the pathogens the program identified during that time, 39 Salmonella isolates were matched to human illnesses -- as were both E. coli O157:H7 and all 8 Listeria isolates.
Bottom line: You can’t test food safety into a food processing business. You can certainly test to determine where the problems are and take the necessary steps to solve them. The meat industry knows that truth only too well. Why would UFPA and PMA ignore it?
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Chuck Jolley, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator.
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