Green onion contamination fuels cry for industry regulation

It’s hard out here for a vegetarian. Spinach, tomatoes, and green onions are all verboten these days, what with the ongoing reports of E. coli and salmonella outbreaks associated with these delicious vegetables. Indeed, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the number of produce-related outbreaks of food-borne illness has increased from about 40 in 1999 to 86 in 2004, meaning that Americans are now more likely to get sick from eating contaminated produce than from any other food item — including milk and meat. “It’s fairly clear something needs to change,” said David W.K. Acheson, a top federal food safety official. “Having illness and repeated outbreaks, especially the ones we’ve seen in the last couple of months, is clearly unacceptable to everyone.”

The only question is, change how? Meat and dairy products are regulated by the Department of Agriculture, while the safety of fruits and vegetables is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration and the states. Yet they have jurisdiction only over processing plants, not the farms themselves. Consumer advocates therefore argue in favor of tougher food safety standards matched with an increase in enforcement actions. Food distributors, on the other hand, predictably preach the benefits of self-regulation. Produce growers and packers have suggested a voluntary system with elements of mandatory oversight — an approach we reported as recently adopted by the California farming industry.

With government oversight lacking, the market is taking care of some of the risk. Both Safeway and Albertsons supermarkets have hired their own auditors to conduct produce inspections. In addition, executives at Safeway, Sysco, Wegmans and Kroger, among others, recently sent a letter to growers and packers demanding that they develop a food safety program for lettuce and other leafy greens by 15 December. That program has been drafted but is still being reviewed by regulators. In addition, the Food Marketing Institute, which represents large retailers and wholesalers, and the National Restaurant Association are developing separate guidelines to update those used by private auditors.

In response, Western Growers and the United Fresh Produce Association, two growers trade groups, have drafted standards that government regulators would enforce through a marketing order — an agreement farmers pay to participate in designed to stabilize market conditions for certain commodities. According to the Washington Post, “Such orders are enforced by the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, not the FDA, and food safety is not typically their main purpose.” The California Department of Food and Agriculture is considering the proposal and could put an order in place as early as late January.

-read more in Annys Shin’s Washington Post report