A move to make fresh US produce safer

A series of food-illness outbreaks has pushed the FDA to issue new voluntary guidelines this week.

from the March 16, 2007 edition

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"In our experience, guidelines do work," says Nega Beru, director of the FDA's food safety office. The agency will consider what more should be done after hearing comments at public meetings over the next month and has not ruled out further regulations, he says. "If you look at the number of illnesses from sprouts during the 1990s until 1999, when we issued guidelines over seed disinfection, irrigation, water testing, we have seen illnesses drop significantly for several straight years," says Mr. Beru.

Voluntary guidelines have more impact than it might appear, says Jenny Scott, vice president for food safety for the Food Products Association.

"When customers see the FDA put out something like this, they take them seriously and expect such practices," says Ms. Scott. "They definitely help." Mandatory regulations, by contrast, don't have adequate flexibility and can straitjacket practices long after best practices have changed, she adds. One such regulation, in place since 1986 but long outdated, she says, is that refrigerated products be held at 45 degrees F. or below, even though many fruit and vegetables need lower temperatures.

At a congressional hearing this week outside Madison, Wis., Sen. Herb Kohl (D) of Wisconsin said that "when it comes to safety ... we have a bigger hill to climb."

Between 1998 and 2004, the number of disease outbreaks tied to contaminated produce has doubled, Senator Kohl said in his testimony. In all, since 1990 public-health officials have tracked 30,000 cases of illness – involving 650 outbreaks linked to consumption of produce. The FDA estimates that from 1996 to 2006 25 percent of all produce-related outbreaks have been with fresh-cut produce such as shredded lettuce, peeled baby carrots, broccoli florets, or cut melons.

In his testimony, Kohl also reviewed recent contamination cases aside from the spinach incidents, on which the FDA is yet to issue a final report. Last September, 200 cases of salmonella poisoning were attributed to tomatoes; in February the FDA recalled cantaloupes after some tested positive with salmonella, he said. A recall of peanut butter made by ConAgra Foods issued last year continues after salmonella was detected last August.

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