FDA: "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."

FDA hearing fails to discover cause of E. coli outbreak in spinach
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...n/16942404.htm

Mar 20, 2007

OAKLAND, Calif. - Despite an unprecedented investigation over
the last six months, federal and state health officials said
Tuesday that it is unlikely they will ever pinpoint the exact
cause of bacterial contamination that caused a nationwide outbreak
of illness from tainted spinach last year.

The disclosure, just weeks before a final report on the
investigation is expected to be released, came at a hearing
where representatives from consumer groups and a national trade
association for the produce industry called on the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration to set mandatory rules to
assure that fruit and vegetables are safe to eat.

FDA and state health officials, however, said they favor
voluntary guidelines and industry self-policing, including a
set of standards that California growers are expected
to adopt next week. The government officials said they would
not rule out mandatory regulation in the future.

Growing and packing practices need to improve said
Dr. David Acheson, the chief medical officer for the
FDA's food safety office. But he also warned
that another outbreak of food-borne illness will likely occur.

"We're never going to get to the point of zero risk,"
he told reporters during a break from the day-long hearing,
convened by his agency to get public input on ways to improve
food safety. "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."

And not solving the mystery makes it harder for farmers,
trying to prevent future outbreaks. Hank Giclas of the
Western Growers Association said farmers would like to
know how the contamination occurred so they can reduce
the chance of it happening again.

The investigation by state and federal health officials
led them to a single 50-acre field in San Benito County
where spinach tainted with the deadly E. coli
O157:H7 bacteria was grown last summer.

Investigators said the bacteria on the tainted spinach,
which killed at least three people and sickened 200
more nationwide, genetically matched bacteria
they found in samples of cow manure in a nearby pasture,
as well as water in a nearby stream and at least
one wild pig in the area.

This was the first time investigators have been able
trace an outbreak of foodborne illness to a single field,
but they couldn't determine exactly how the
bacteria came into contact with the spinach.

The spinach in last fall's outbreak was processed by
Natural Selection Food in San Juan Bautista and sold
under the Dole label in supermarkets nationwide.
Officials have said they would not name the farm
where the spinach was grown until their report
is released. An attorney representing dozens of people who
became ill last fall has said in court papers
that the suspect spinach was grown by a company
called Mission Organics.

Critics complained Tuesday that the government has not done enough.

"How many more deadly outbreaks must there be?"
asked Elisa Odabashian. The West Coast director of
Consumers Union said that the government has
abdicated its responsibility by relying on the
produce industry to police itself.

A spokesman for a major trade association also called
on the FDA to impose mandatory rules for growers and
packagers nationwide. James Gorny, a vice president
for the United Fresh Produce Association, which represents
large produce firms, praised the efforts undertaken
so far by government and industry. But he said his
group believes the only way to restore consumer confidence
is for the federal government to set consistent standards
and enforce them.

Acheson, however, echoed spokesmen for the
Western Growers Association, who argue that devising
regulations is a cumbersome process. Giclas argued
that the industry can develop its own list of
`best practices' and revise them quickly as scientific
knowledge develops.

Acheson said the recent outbreaks related to tainted produce
have focused government and industry on improving food safety,
but he added it's important to have "100 percent compliance.
As we've seen, you don't need a large area of land to produce
enough produce to make lots of people sick."
__________________________________________________ _

Gene Factory Farmers respond to Organic Spinach outbreak:
http://www.courierpress.com/news/200...ety-questions/

At the Grow America Project, an Indianapolis-based support group
for big agriculture funded by Monsanto, Elanco, Countrymark, the
National Pork Board and others, the spinach incident has called attention
to what's right about American agriculture.

"On the whole, we believe the most powerful benefits for consumers
and the public at-large come from commercial grade agriculture,"
said Grow America President Brose McVey.

Scientists cross pigs with spinach:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1780541.stm

War on Globalization > wrote in
:

> FDA: "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."

Especially if people continue to eat store-bought spinach without cooking
it. If you must have exotic green leaves in your salad, go to your
backyard and gather some dandelion leaves. They're much better for your
health than store-bought spinach.

In article >,
Tom Y > wrote:

> War on Globalization > wrote in
> :
>
> > FDA: "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."
>
> Especially if people continue to eat store-bought spinach without cooking
> it. If you must have exotic green leaves in your salad, go to your
> backyard and gather some dandelion leaves. They're much better for your
> health than store-bought spinach.

I've tried that... They are too bitter. :-(
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

(Tom Y) wrote in
:

> War on Globalization > wrote in
> :
>
>> FDA: "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."
>
> Especially if people continue to eat store-bought spinach without
> cooking it. If you must have exotic green leaves in your salad,

I've never heard spinach called an exotic plant before.

> go to your backyard and gather some dandelion leaves. They're much
> better for your health than store-bought spinach.

Dandelions plucked from the average urban yard are not likely to be
good for you or good eating.

Unless you're proposing a return to nation-wide subsitence farming,
most people are going to be buying all their produce.

Division of labor is a good thing.

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

In article >,
says...
> War on Globalization > wrote in
> :
>
> > FDA: "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."
>
> Especially if people continue to eat store-bought spinach without cooking
> it. If you must have exotic green leaves in your salad, go to your
> backyard and gather some dandelion leaves. They're much better for your
> health than store-bought spinach.


Or better yet, go to your back yard and set up a garden. So you
can grow your own spinach, and plenty of other fresh vegetables.


--
Get Credit Where Credit Is Due
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Credit Tools, Reference, and Forum

Tom Y wrote:

> War on Globalization > wrote in
> :
>
>
>> FDA: "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."
>
>
> Especially if people continue to eat store-bought spinach without cooking
> it. If you must have exotic green leaves in your salad, go to your
> backyard and gather some dandelion leaves. They're much better for your
> health than store-bought spinach.

Given the amount of chemicals used in the average home lawn, I wouldn't
eat anything from the yard. Even if you don't use anything on your
lawn, you'll get plenty of run-off from the neighbors.

--Charlene

--
Being punctual is a fine thing but nobody will be there to appreciate it.


email perronnellec at earthlink . net

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Charlene Charette > wrote in
:

> Tom Y wrote:
>
>> War on Globalization > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>
>>> FDA: "Is this likely to happen again? Yes."
>>
>>
>> Especially if people continue to eat store-bought spinach
>> without cooking it. If you must have exotic green leaves
>> in your salad, go to your backyard and gather some
>> dandelion leaves. They're much better for your health
>> than store-bought spinach.
>
> Given the amount of chemicals used in the average home
> lawn, I wouldn't eat anything from the yard. Even if you
> don't use anything on your lawn, you'll get plenty of
> run-off from the neighbors.

raised beds. containers.
there are workarounds to just about any issue you want to
come up with... except just plain laziness.
lee <one acre of organic garden & expanding. those 50
varieties of tomatoes are taking a lot of space>

In article >,
enigma > wrote:

> >> If you must have exotic green leaves
> >> in your salad, go to your backyard and gather some
> >> dandelion leaves. They're much better for your health
> >> than store-bought spinach.
> >
> > Given the amount of chemicals used in the average home
> > lawn, I wouldn't eat anything from the yard. Even if you
> > don't use anything on your lawn, you'll get plenty of
> > run-off from the neighbors.
>
> raised beds. containers.
> there are workarounds to just about any issue you want to
> come up with... except just plain laziness.

So what do you use under the beds to make sure root systems aren't
tapping into soil that the neighbors have tainted with ChemGreen?
And how do you protect from the neighbor's
"if-some-is-good-more-is-better-and-too-much-is-enough" overspray of
pesticides and non-organic fertilizers?

Who knew defeating physics could be so easy?

sd

sd > wrote in
:

> In article >,
> enigma > wrote:
>
>> >> If you must have exotic green leaves
>> >> in your salad, go to your backyard and gather some
>> >> dandelion leaves. They're much better for your health
>> >> than store-bought spinach.
>> >
>> > Given the amount of chemicals used in the average home
>> > lawn, I wouldn't eat anything from the yard. Even if
>> > you don't use anything on your lawn, you'll get plenty
>> > of run-off from the neighbors.
>>
>> raised beds. containers.
>> there are workarounds to just about any issue you want to
>> come up with... except just plain laziness.
>
> So what do you use under the beds to make sure root systems
> aren't tapping into soil that the neighbors have tainted
> with ChemGreen? And how do you protect from the neighbor's
> "if-some-is-good-more-is-better-and-too-much-is-enough"
> overspray of pesticides and non-organic fertilizers?

any number of things. landscape fabric, cardboard, thick
layers of newspaper. place the raised beds on a cement patio,
or place pots on a walkway, patio, steps, or balcony.
the roots of most veggies really don't go very deep (they
seldom go deeper than my 8" raised beds, except potatoes &
carrots, which i plant in 16" raised beds). the migration of
chemicals occurs much further down, unless you're right *on*
the lot line.
as far as overspray, you have recourse against firms like
ChemLawn if they damage your gardens or lawns. don't bother
complaining to the neighbor, call Chemlawn directly. i have
chemical sensitivities & when i lived in the suburbs my uphill
neighbors were Chemlawn addicts. i called Chemlawn to explain
& they were *very* careful about wind drift & over
application.

> Who knew defeating physics could be so easy?

who knew that thinking of options was so easy?
you *can* grow organic in city if you put your mind to it. try
reading books on innercity gardening. they are sometimes
working on toxic sites because that's all the open area
available. they have workarounds.
lee

In article >,
enigma > wrote:

> i called Chemlawn to explain
> & they were *very* careful about wind drift & over
> application.

I'm *sure* they were. I'd be very surprised if the minimum wage
"technicians" they send out even got the message. And I don't think
you'd have a very easy time of proving that it was *their* chemicals
that your plants -- or chemical sensitivities -- picked up.

> > Who knew defeating physics could be so easy?
>
> who knew that thinking of options was so easy?
> you *can* grow organic in city if you put your mind to it. try
> reading books on innercity gardening. they are sometimes
> working on toxic sites because that's all the open area
> available. they have workarounds.
> lee

I'll buy the container gardening. But I can't imagine that the same
water sources accepting the runoff from ChemGreen will somehow not
affect the plants and vegetables in your lawn, drawing from the same
water sources. Container or tub gardening also will enforce some
restrictions as far as what you can grow in that amount of space
relative to how much lot you have available, etc.

In an urban setting (within city limits, as I live), the sheer
closeness of neighbors and lawns makes growing organically *and
verifying that it remains organic* difficult. Resolving those issues
is not merely a matter of "thinking" or avoiding "laziness".

sd