"But the outbreaks have pummeled romaine lettuce sales, according to data from Nielsen. Sales of the vegetable, typically the most widely consumed salad green, slumped 13% during the year ending Nov. 24 to $631 million, the analytics firm estimated. With less romaine lettuce available, USDA said prices of other lettuce varieties have surged, including Boston and iceberg lettuce — which saw a nearly 170% jump."A warning for more to come? Without good traceback, FDA will probably follow a similar tact with the next produce recall. So will the industry be able to do voluntary labeling. What about testing of irrigation water?
The Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law in 2011, called for growers to test their irrigation water and take steps to prevent contaminated sources from being used on produce. But the FDA announced in September 2017 that implementation would be delayed until at least 2022, beginning with the largest farms, in order to allow the agency to “consider how we might further reduce the regulatory burden or increase flexibility.”Water testing has its issues including setting acceptable standards that can reflect the presence of pathogens, being able to find incidental contamination, etc. Product sampling provides no guarantee either that low level contaminants will be found. Can there ever be a 100% guarantee in preventing pathogens in leafy greens...probably not.
FoodDive
https://www.fooddive.com/news/its-not-easy-being-green-romaine-lettuce-e-coli-outbreak-rattles-food-g/543448/
It's not easy being green: Romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak rattles food, grocery industries
Dec 10, 2018
The FDA's decision to request that the popular green gets pulled from shelves sent "a strong message" to the produce sector while costing supermarkets millions of dollars.
When Scott Gottlieb asked retailers, restaurants and other commercial outlets to voluntarily pull from the market and destroy any romaine lettuce just two days before Thanksgiving, it marked an usual and poignant request from the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"The quick and aggressive steps we’re taking today are aimed at making sure we get ahead of this emerging outbreak, to reduce risk to consumers, and to help people protect themselves and their families from this foodborne illness outbreak," Gottlieb said in a statement on Nov. 20. "This isn’t the first romaine outbreak we have seen in the recent past, and we will continue to take steps to identify the root causes of these events and take action to prevent future outbreaks."
The leafy green industry has struggled during the past year, with three outbreaks tied to E. coli.
Romaine from Arizona this spring sickened 210 people from 36 states, hospitalized 96 and was tied to five deaths. Contaminated water located near a cattle lot was most likely the source. Another hit the U.S. and Canada in 2017, and while investigators in the United States never identified which vegetable was responsible, Canadian officials said romaine was most often tied to illnesses.
The cause of the current romaine outbreak in California, responsible for sickening 52 people across 15 states, hasn't been identified.
David Acheson, the FDA's former food safety czar who now runs his own firm to help clients reduce the risk of an outbreak, said the agency's withdraw request — the first in produce since spinach in 2006 — was as much about protecting public health as it was "sending a strong message to the produce industry that they need to look at ways to make this better than it already is."
"It's very effective, but talk about taking a sledgehammer to crack a walnut," Acheson told Food Dive. "It's a big deal and that's why I think there is a bit more to this in terms of the political regulatory requirement, in that (these three outbreaks are) not acceptable."
In recent weeks, the FDA has participated in discussions with major producers and distributors of romaine lettuce, as well as trade groups representing the produce industry in an attempt to reduce the impact of future outbreaks.
Gottlieb said last month that major growers agreed to voluntarily label romaine with the growing region and the date of harvest to help with market recalls and traceability. The new labeling could be expanded to other leafy greens and produce going forward, he added.
United Fresh, whose members represent the entire produce industry supply chain, said in a statement the deal was negotiated by "a number of romaine grower-shipper-processors" who agreed to take part. Fresh Express, Taylor Farms, Dole Fresh Vegetables and Earthbound Farm are among the companies who said they would adopt the new labels.
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