As we trudge along in food safety at the farm level, the sense of desperation is obvious, but there is hope and movement forward.
Not only is the produce industry reeling from the recent food safety disasters in its products, the pressure is on in the labor market and on the economic front. Growers and packers of…
While the Environmental Health professional’s role in food safety is marginalized in some places (such as in Florida, where the Environmental Health staff conduct less than 10% of the food safety inspections) there is a growing need for their involvement directed toward the safety of fresh produce.
With experience in the safety of water, land…
Lessons Learned From Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
Part 2.
Listeria Outbreak in Cantaloupes
“They probably look at themselves as victims too, but as between the person who bought the cantaloupe in the grocery store, who is more of the victim? And does a grocery store have an obligation to its consumer to not sell them products …
We are now seeing huge gaps in the food safety net. We also see the effect of the serious pathogens like E coli that have become entrenched in our food animals, thus in our food supply, and in our environment. The failure of agriculture to control E. coli has contaminated the entire food …
As the result of the release of the FDA environmental assessment at Jensen Farms, the roles of all food safety persons involved at Jensen Farms-Frontera have rightfully come under fire. Once again the the nature of industry led food safety regulation itself (food safety auditing) is in question.
That all involved maintain some degree of responsibility for this disaster is…
Part 1
Outbreaks in fresh produce, while tragic for victims, nevertheless can have a positive outcome if we can learn how to better prevent them, or at least reduce their occurrence. This four part series will discuss the current produce outbreaks in cantaloupes, cucumbers, celery and strawberries and analyze the information that is known, with …
Media types looking for a sound bite on Listeria in cantaloupes are pulling their hair out tonight.
You couldn’t ask for a more complicated scenario. Advice like “wash your hands” or “cook your foods” or “don’t cross contaminate” is nearly worthless. Here are some troubling facts
Listeria monocytogenes:
…
Could it be that the Jensen Farms LM outbreak will be traced to contaminated irrigation water?
Looks like the Arkansas river is the irrigation source for this entire farming region through a series of diversion canals and ditches. We also have to remember that pesticides are also applied using surface water sources in some regions.
For some great pictures of…
Its good to refelct on where we are every once in a while, this way we can benchmark the face of food safety which is changing all the time. So at mid year 2011, here are my thoughts.
I continue to be surprised by the way the microbes seem to outwit us.
We seem to be…
In Bill Marler’s blog below, he quotes Bill Bagby of Tiny Greens, who sickened scores of people for 4 months with his contaminated sprouts.
Mr. Bagby says,
"Sprouts are kind of a magical thing," says Bagby, owner of Tiny Greens, a sprout farm in Urbana, Ill. "In terms of vitamins they’re just off the …