[ad_1]
After outbreaks of food poisoning linked to romaine lettuce, a US food safety official raised his concerns in an internal email, indicating that the water analyzes carried products industry "had failed in an epic and tragic way".
How the industry tests water for growing leafy vegetables is "unacceptable" and needs to change, wrote James Gorny, senior advisor for product safety at the Food and Drug Administration, to agency leaders .
The message last November, obtained by the Associated Press as a result of a public registration request, arrived a few days before the agency prevented the people from getting away from it. 39, avoid romaine before Thanksgiving. A few months earlier, in April, another epidemic of E. Coli linked to the Roman had made more than 200 sick and had killed five. This was then linked to an irrigation canal near a huge cattle park in Arizona; the fall epidemic was linked to a water reservoir in California. In both cases, the regulators never confirmed how the water had been contaminated.
Although the FDA has publicly called the leafy green vegetables sector to boost security, the emails offer a bleak view of the agency's long-standing frustrations with the persistence of its outbreaks. They also show how the agency has taken advantage of the crisis to push for voluntary changes while trying to set its own rules for water analysis.
In a statement, the FDA said it was working with producers and government agencies to improve safety since the outbreaks, including testing the Roman. The agency said the new regulations that include farm inspections and health rules for workers should also help stop outbreaks.
Industry groups said they are expanding existing security practices for their members. Membership in the industry agreements is however voluntary and a farm related to the autumn epidemic was not a member.
The outbreaks of food poisoning associated with green leafy vegetables have been a constant concern for health officials. The failure of measures taken by industry to curb epidemics shows the lack of a clear solution and even regulators do not know how to solve the problem, said Timothy Lytton, food safety expert at the Georgia State University.
This month, the FDA has delayed the adoption of a regulation requiring fruit and vegetable growers to test the water for the presence of E. Coli, which explains how the leafy green vegetables industry is monitoring its water. The presence of E. coli does not necessarily make people sick, but can report potentially harmful strains. The agency said it needed more time to determine if it was the most practical option.
"It's all about taking a step back and asking the industry to take responsibility for public safety," said Sarah Sorscher of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Gorny emails were sent out during the fall bloom related to California's growing regions. In a post published in late November, he reported other recent diseases with a strain similar to that of the previous spring epidemic.
The FDA has stated that she has never linked these additional diseases to a food. But at that time, Gorny called it an "almost failed" that shows that the problem has not been solved.
Sorscher said that the lack of a solution was worrisome, but that lettuce was still a healthy food and that it was "very likely that you would not get sick".
—
Follow Candice Choi on Twitter: @candicechoi
—
The Health and Science Department of the Associated Press is receiving support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
[ad_2]
Source link