Food Safety and Environmental Health Blog : Disease Prevention, Public Health, Sanitation Information & Analysis : Environ Health Associates

Environ Health Associated investigated the efficacy of a product known as electrolyzed water on reducing hazards in salad greens in colaboration with ProtonLabs and the University of Washington. The findings have been published in the Journal of Food Science. Our study found that when used on  experimentally contaminated leafy greens an electrolyzed water wash treatment provided a reduction to safe levels in about a minute and complete destruction of all pathogens to undetectable levels after 3 minutes. This technology developed by Protonlabs in Japan has the power to transform the safety of leafy greens. Unfortunately less effective technology developed in Russia has been heavily marketed already in the US, while the Japanese technology is just becoming well known. Environ Health Associates believes this study will open doors for Proton's Japanese technology that were previously closed to the Russian technology.

What makes the Japanese technology an improvement on the Russian technology is the robust hardware, advanced electronics, and stable chemistry provided by the maunfacture. Environ Health Associates endorses ProtonLabs' technology. ProtonLabs is the only company offering an effective stabilized electrolyzed water product that can be bottled with shelf life at 2 years under normal storage conditions.

The study showed that an ordinary washing step with electrolyzed water provides an excellent reduction in pathogens and a safe alternative to other treatments. Electrolyzed water resolves to its elemental components with no residue in the environment. The active ingredient, hypochlorous acid (HOCL) is accepted as GRAS by FDA and can be applied to all types of edible foods, including organically grown vegetables.  

Research recently released by the Fresh Express Company has added greatly to our knowledge of the route of transmission of E coli O157:H7 in leafy greens. A research team including Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH  at the University of Minnesota and Dr Michael Doyle of the University of Georgia found that flies can carry E coli to the stomata of the plant (the opening in the plant where gases are exchanged). Once there the E coli find a rich environment and can colonize the site through newly discovered virulence mechanisms. The study also found that the E coli were unable to actually infect the inner vascular structure of leafy greens through roots or leaves.

The research points to a key pathway for disease transmission that needs to be broken. While some filth flies are inevitable in farming operations there are some common sense things that must be considered in reducing fly populations, and those are the presence of decaying matter and fecal material on the farm and proximately to large cattle operations and manure.

The comments of Mr. Jim Prevor the highly respected Perishable Pundit provide an important industry perspective. While Mr. Prevor praises the results of the research, he also points out that applying what is developed in a scientific model to the real world requires something more. Mr Prevor writes "Although this type of quick turnaround can provide important clues for further research and provide the trade and regulators with some notion of how research is progressing, we think demanding instantaneous revolutions in horticultural and processing practices is too much." Mr.Prevor then goes on to praise the research, adding, "For today, however, the industry owes a big hat tip to Fresh Express. We know more and have a clearer path to food safety than we did last week. That is a formidable accomplishment".

I can understand Mr. Prevor's dilemma, there are obvious implications for agricultural now that we know the dangers of filth, flies and the vulnerability of the stomata. On the other hand, there are simple and practical things that we might attempt. Some questions to explore:

Just how does one control filth and flies in farming operations?

What do we do with knowledge about E coli's colonization of the stomata?

Is ozone or some other treatment the answer, are there alternatives? 

If more research is needed, what kinds of things should we be looking at?

The produce industry needs to be looking for answers to these questions. Can the industry afford to write off 2 million dollars of their own research money? The produce industry cannot excuse itself citing potential costs or difficulties. Stay tuned as I explore these questions and implications for consumers, industry, regulatory agencies and food safety professionals.

Links to this story:

http://www.PerishablePundit.com
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/food-disease/news/sep1708produce.html

http://www.actroninc.com/flash/ifmflash.htm

Tomatoes are once again implicated in a large and serious foodborne illness outbreak. To date CDC has identified hundreds of victims of Salmonella saintpaul, a somewhat unusual or rare serotype of Salmonella, and one death is suspected.

Investigators are hampered by lack of traceability amongst other problems. FDA reports that investigators are encountering boxes of tomatoes without labels. Such problems make it difficult to determine safe from unsafe sources, and force FDA to only issue general information about which tomatoes are likely safe. As a result, hundreds of millions of tomatoes must be destroyed and the US tomato industry has experienced huge financial losses. This is extremely troubling at a time when food scarcities are enveloping many of the world's poorest nations.

Much of the blame for this tragic situation lies squarely with FDA's non-existent and ineffective regulation of the produce industry. There are no laws specifically regulating how produce is grown, labled and handled. FDA has been providing guidance to the produce industry for at least 10 years but it is unknown if  the industry is applying it since there are no regulatory inspections of produce safety. Florida and North Carolina are attempting to work with FDA on a state inspection program called the Tomato Initiative, but the work is very preliminary and will not be effective for years.

The produce industry is filling in the gaps by self-regulation whereby growers, packers and distributors are subject to industry mandated food safety audits conducted by third party firms. The weakness in this "buyer driven" safety model is that buyers, the middlemen between the retailer and the producer, make buying decision based primarily on price and quality and do not hold food safety as their first priority.

The consumer is now at the mercy of this ineffective food safety system and the produce industry is reeling from the financial effects. Lobbying by the associations representing the food industry since the mid 1990's has kept regulatory agencies under financed and ineffective. Now that they need them, they are incapable of providing protection. It is indeed interesting to note these associations now have their own food safety schemesthat they sell to the industry as a fix for the very problem they helped create. Industry interference with regulatory efforts is to blame for the crisis state of FDA, and the produce industry is now reaping a bitter harvest of unsafe foods.

Clearly the answers to unsafe foods must be found in Washington. However, with the distractions of war, inflated fuel prices and a sluggish economy (mostly caused by unregulated profiteering in the housing market) Washington is ill prepared to mount an effective food safety policy and to fix America's neglected public health infrastructure.

Consumers are losing confidence in supermarket produce and are turning to local farmers for a better quality and presumably safer product. Supermarkets will continue to suffer as consumers spend their food dollar elsewhere. Self seeking food industry leaders must blame only themselves for their tomato woes.