Romaine Lettuce E.Coli contamination - Alert - US/Canada.. the issues

[Bob]

Hi Flash, would you provide a map of the affected areas in Canada?

The US CDC reports on USA events, and there is no map reference to either Mexico or Canada.

Possibly if we all became the "North American States" (Mexico-Canada-USA) merge, we'd see maps when there is an outbreak that covered the whole region. And maybe there would be the Pan American States, and then the "South American States". I would suspect tho folks are not progressive enough to go that far towards economic and political unity. Until then it seems to me, we are all going to have to rely on our individual reporting Agencies to "draw up maps"

By the way, you did note that in post https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1260849 it was a CANADIAN University that developed the testing kit. Just as it was a Canadian effort to come up with the WORKING Ebola vaccine..

Possibly you may want to start here: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/sfc.../1512149203296

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency had ALLOWED the contaminated Romaine Lettuce into the Country.

Apparently the "system" is flawed.

reference: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-th.../1299076493846 - "Official Canadian Recall notice for contaminated Romaine Lettuce" imported into Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick.

the Canadian update is here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...e-lettuce.html

The Public Health Agency of Canada is collaborating with provincial public health partners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, as well as the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA), to investigate an outbreak of E. coli infections in Ontario and Quebec, and several U.S. states.

In Canada, based on the investigation findings to date, exposure to romaine lettuce has been identified as a source of the outbreak, but the cause of contamination has not been identified. Laboratory analysis indicates that the illnesses reported in this outbreak are genetically related to illnesses reported in a previous E. coli outbreak from December 2017 that affected consumers in both Canada and the U.S. This tells us that the same strain of E. coli is causing illness in Canada and the US as was seen in 2017 and it suggests there may be a reoccurring source of contamination. Investigators are using evidence collected in both outbreaks to help identify the possible cause of the contamination in these events.

The current outbreak appears to be ongoing as illnesses linked to romaine lettuce continue to be reported. These recent illnesses indicate that contaminated romaine lettuce may still be on the market, including in restaurants, grocery stores and any establishments that serve food. At this time, the investigation evidence in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick suggests that there is a risk of E. coli infections associated with eating romaine lettuce.

As the risk is ongoing, the Public Health Agency of Canada is advising individuals in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick to avoid eating romaine lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce until more is known about the outbreak and the cause of contamination.

[Flash]

Posted by Bob (here)
Hi Flash, would you provide a map of the affected areas in Canada?

The US CDC reports on USA events, and there is no map reference to either Mexico or Canada.

Possibly if we all became the "North American States" (Mexico-Canada-USA) merge, we'd see maps when there is an outbreak that covered the whole region. And maybe there would be the Pan American States, and then the "South American States". I would suspect tho folks are not progressive enough to go that far towards economic and political unity. Until then it seems to me, we are all going to have to rely on our individual reporting Agencies to "draw up maps"

By the way, you did note that in post https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1260849 it was a CANADIAN University that developed the testing kit. Just as it was a Canadian effort to come up with the WORKING Ebola vaccine..

Possibly you may want to start here: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/sfc.../1512149203296 The Canadian Food Inspection Agency which ALLOWED the contaminated Romaine Lettuce into the Country. Apparently the "system" is flawed.

reference: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-th.../1299076493846 - "Official Canadian Recall notice for contaminated Romaine Lettuce" imported into Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick.

the Canadian update is here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...e-lettuce.html

The Public Health Agency of Canada is collaborating with provincial public health partners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, as well as the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA), to investigate an outbreak of E. coli infections in Ontario and Quebec, and several U.S. states.

In Canada, based on the investigation findings to date, exposure to romaine lettuce has been identified as a source of the outbreak, but the cause of contamination has not been identified. Laboratory analysis indicates that the illnesses reported in this outbreak are genetically related to illnesses reported in a previous E. coli outbreak from December 2017 that affected consumers in both Canada and the U.S. This tells us that the same strain of E. coli is causing illness in Canada and the US as was seen in 2017 and it suggests there may be a reoccurring source of contamination. Investigators are using evidence collected in both outbreaks to help identify the possible cause of the contamination in these events.

The current outbreak appears to be ongoing as illnesses linked to romaine lettuce continue to be reported. These recent illnesses indicate that contaminated romaine lettuce may still be on the market, including in restaurants, grocery stores and any establishments that serve food. At this time, the investigation evidence in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick suggests that there is a risk of E. coli infections associated with eating romaine lettuce.

As the risk is ongoing, the Public Health Agency of Canada is advising individuals in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick to avoid eating romaine lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce until more is known about the outbreak and the cause of contamination.

LOL that is ok Bob, I will tolerate never being in the maps of things concerning North America, instead of being amalgamated totally (we are already amalgamated to the US, except for medicare and some social stuff)..

I could not find a map of the E Coli proliferarion in Canada, only tv reports. There are presently 15 cases in Quebec, 3 in Ontario and 1 in New Brunswick - probably from same importing places or same distributors.

As for test kits for E Coli and Ebola vaccines, developed in Canada, you are right, on one hand, the Canadian Health Ministry was much more demanding than US counterparts a few years ago, which is not the case anymore, sadly. On the other hand, the Canadian Food Inspection agency is truly under financed for everything and does very few test of foreign products, which Canadians are complaining about.

And we never tested US products, considering that your agencies do a good job usually to make sure products are safe.

However, the complaints we have usually have to do with Chinese food products which are terribly poorly rated in terms of quality.

I seem to have triggered your nationalistic sentiment, or hurt it, which was not my objective.

[Bob]

Industry reporting on "Harvest Dates" --- why California appears to be the source of the contamination.. and not the Yuma region of Arizona..

“#FDA continues to investigate source of e.coli outbreak traced to Romaine. We believe it's related to lettuce harvested from California. We hope to have more information by Monday isolating the growing region. New crop will soon harvest from other regions,” according to the tweet.

Ten of the 32 U.S. cases are in California, but the rest are in 10 states east of the Mississippi River. Canadian health officials reported 18 cases there.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the outbreak Nov. 20, it called for all romaine to be removed from the supply chain, and for shippers to stop packing and distributing all romaine products, from whole heads, hearts, bagged salads and spring mix. Retailers were asked to pull all romaine from shelves.

The United Fresh Produce Association on Nov. 20 advised companies to quickly comply and urged anyone contacted by regulatory agencies investigating the origin to help and make shipping records available. But it had also requested federal agencies to consider narrowing down the regions where romaine had been harvesting from when illnesses were reported, roughly mid- to late November.

This is an extremely broad warning to consumers to not eat any type of romaine from any growing region,” according to a member alert from United Fresh. “Despite our urging that industry could clearly identify some sources of romaine coming onto the market as not related to the outbreak, CDC and FDA also are requesting the voluntarily withdrawal of romaine lettuce before it enters commerce."

According to United Fresh, Yuma, Ariz., romaine had not commenced when the first illnesses were reported in mid-October.

reference: https://www.thepacker.com/article/fd...ine-california

Steps being taken: Identifying the source, then identifying the growing (fertilizer/water), picking/harvesting, packing/shipping and then distribution.

--- update ---

by the way, this is for @Flash:



The update map was JUST published from CBC - apparently they heard you :-)

[waves]

As someone who only buys locally grown produce, it's really annoying to read msm bullhorned fear mongering phrases like"do not eat any type of romaine from any growing region” without qualification.

The correct qualification would be 'from mass produced and distributed sources pre-packaged or not'.

I know we don't all have this luxury, but the truth still stands that this scare does not apply to locally grown produce from farmer's markets like I long ago chose to only buy produce from, and I happened to recently have no ill effects from their romaine.

Just saying the truth was never 'all' or 'all until we isolate the source'.

[Bob]

Seems to me @waves the FDA, CDC and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency made it clear they don't know if the contamination appeared at the grower (previously it did), this time, or if there was a problem of contamination in the shipping methods, or the packer, or the retail sales outlet. As you said, not so many people have the luxury of buying at a local grown farmer's market..

Just to point out, a local grown farmer's market is not necessarily any guaranteed measure of food safety.. (We'll go over some research on that in another post.)

In Colorado, there was a massive melon contamination from a local grower who supplied "farmers markets", as well as food chains. 33 people died from the Listeria infection. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...teria/2877913/) The listeria outbreak connected to Jensen Farms' cantaloupes began in late August 2011. HOLLY, Colo. — Two brothers who owned and operated a cantaloupe farm directly linked to a listeria outbreak that killed 33 people pleaded not guilty Thursday to criminal charges stemming from the incidents.

Eric and Ryan Jensen, ages 37 and 33, of the now-bankrupt Jensen Farms were arrested Thursday and each charged with six misdemeanor counts of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce.

In October of that year, the Food and Drug Administration found that Jensen Farms' packing and storage facilities likely helped spread the listeria and directly contributed to the outbreak.

How a picked produce item gets stored and then gets to the "market" is a very important issue

Any farmer can have this type of issue happen. ANY. That's the point that the CDC and the FDA called for immediate caution.. For all they know it was some local farmer with a similar situation to the Jensen Brothers.. It seems to me that is why stopping all commerce for the particular produce item was initiated until it could be determined:

• who grew it,
• who harvested it,
• who washed it (and how),
• who stored it,
• who shipped it (was the shipping method sanitary?),
• who displayed it for purchase

When people can get sick, or have a permanent injury, or die, ere on the side of caution. IMHO

This is what the investigators found for instance with the Jensen case:

The FDA said one piece of equipment, a used potato washing machine bought just before the outbreak, was its possible cause and cited dirty water on the floor of the packing center as well.

"Several areas on both the washing and drying equipment appeared to be un-cleanable, and dirt and product buildup was visible on some areas of the equipment," according to the FDA report.

The way the cantaloupes were cooled after being picked may have exacerbated the listeria growth, the FDA said. Another possible source of contamination was a truck that frequently hauled cantaloupe to a cattle operation and was parked near the packing house.

As to WHY shut the whole Romaine lettuce distribution system down, it's really obvious, and it is specifically because of the small sellers.. All the Romaine is lumped, blended where batches may come from numerous locations. Tracking is virtually non-existent.

What has been proposed by the FDA is to have actual batches of produce clearly labeled as to which farm produced what, when it was produced, when it was CERTIFIED as safe. Thing is, the certification of safe hasn't been applied across the board.

That system doesn't exist though, not yet. Batch mixing is a horrendously dangerous practice because contamination can spread. Like in the Odwalla situation, allowing a "bad apple" into the mix can pollute the whole batch.

The MSM doesn't "shut it down", the regulatory and investigative Agencies issue a warning or a suggestion and if industry doesn't comply voluntarily they issue a PULL this product NOW order (a recall). MSM may be able to follow or not the complexity, or they just report the headlines in the few minutes they have to get people's attention.

I've talked with some of my friends in Canada for instance who 3 days later had not even heard that there was E. Coli bacteria contamination in certain forms of produce.. He was astonished to hear that the produce was from the US, and somehow managed to escape inspection (it appears) from Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

And to close on this post, in an outbreak, in an issue of contamination or a deliberate adulteration of a food or medicine (or supplement) or a mislabeling or a sabotage every aspect of the "system" has to be checked to determine WHERE did it come from (the problem) and HOW did it enter commerce.

Sometimes Canadian MSM "editorials" breed an anti-US sentiment, that Canada was/is shipped virtually "garbage".

Was Canada shipped such contaminated Romaine Lettuce that came from California, or was the trucking system that transferred the produce to a refrigerated container previously used to ship cattle, or unwashed potatoes? Was it a refrigerated sanitized trucking system? was it a refrigerated sanitized "sealed" (for customs) railway train? Was it shipped by a certified untamperable refrigerated rail car? Was there a deliberate or accidental contamination of the shipping container in any way? It is complicated tracing every step. One cannot legitimately broadly make a statement that defective produce came from the USA without verify all the steps of transfer from point A (growing) to point B, consumer market shelves.

All the variables need to be looked at step by step. The issues are complicated with small individual farmers who are not traced into getting their produce into the "distribution system".

It is "complicated" and because the system lacks adequate tracking (and quality sampling along the way), the whole system gets shut down until it is sorted where the snafu appeared.

references: "Anti-American" sentiment in Canada -

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1...rage-canadian/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opin...american-lens/ - BIAS

For the first time since pollsters started measuring such attitudes almost 40 years ago, a majority of Canadians now hold an overall unfavourable view of the United States. As of last year, only 44 per cent of Canadians said they hold a positive view of their neighbouring country, the lowest ranking ever.

https://news.vice.com/en_ca/article/...nism-in-canada - Canadians ARE the biggest purchases of "Made in America" product in the world, but they bitch that they HATE the US. (the insulting attitude of "Want the CANDY" but won't accept that it was Made in the US of A),

Canadian Agri-Imports: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...tudy-1.2951737 - Ontario doesn't grow enough food to feed itself, but it could.. "Ontario residents prefer the look of imported carrots from the Florida area over locally, home-grown carrots. Florida residents prefer the taste of carrots grown here."

[waves]

Bob, there's enough facts in the way this warning has been described to determine that not ALL romaine was subject to such a big fear mongering story and it's still irresponsible and unnecessary to have included any farmer anywhere US.

It left out a caveat something like 'very small local growers who do not ship their products out of their county are not considered to be the source of contamination...."...or whatever the correct wording is to frame the farmers with zero chance of suspicion.

There are plenty small farmers around the country who fit that description and do not deserve this vilification in this case.

[Bob]

Sure seems to me tho, they did what was needed. Sorry you wanted them to say something that matches your expectations and they didn't comply with your wishes. It is what it is though.

Apparently the masses buy from other than "farm stands or farmers markets".. You've made your point well enough and I get it. And we clearly disagree about complicating a health warning with various caveats. Their point was if in doubt toss it. They did that apparently for a reason.

The medical treatments for consuming a bacteria contaminated 79cent head of lettuce are up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. For consumers "keep it simple", the simpler the better.

I prefer to err on the side of caution as does the health agencies in two Countries. Seems to me if even ONE person dies because they didn't err on the side of caution, that would be tragic.

[Bob]

Just to put to rest that buying one's food at a local 'farmers market' guarantees sanitary produce, safety and quality, the reality is there is MORE contamination on the produce than from reputable larger commercial markets (grocery stores).

reference: https://www.dirt-to-dinner.com/food-...rmers-markets/

In researching this topic, we found several studies that tested specific produce from both farmers’ markets and grocery stores for bacteria that can serve as indicators of pathogens that could cause illness. The study results indicated that produce from farmers’ markets typically had significantly more bacterial counts in general than produce from grocery stores..

Is there quality control, inspections, and verification of the sanitary wholesome produce from "farmers markets" ?

No - small farms are very much exempt from oversight:

Congress and signed into law by President Obama in 2011, food safety requirements depend on a farm’s income.

1. Farming operations with less than $25,000 in food sales are completely exempt from food safety rules.
2. Farms that gross between $25,000 and $500,000 annually and sell most of their food products (greater than 50%) directly to consumers, restaurants, or stores in their state or within 275 miles of their farm are exempt from the more rigorous and costly FSMA requirements (i.e., detailed record-keeping and technical reporting requirements).
3. Farms grossing more than $500,000 annually to follow all applicable regulations and to undergo food safety inspections.

States rely on county health departments to regulate food safety at farmers’ markets and the health departments rely on market managers to enforce food safety practices at the market. County officials don't regularly take samples and submit them to biological testing. County health departments are frequently overwhelmed by doing health inspections at local restaurants.

Sustainable Agriculture, describes farmers market managers as having “a general understanding” of agriculture and food safety guidelines, but no specific training.

Do large company farms have specific training? Not necessarily either. There is a problem in the industry with for instance using temporary MIGRANT WORKERS, many are illegals who have no vested interest in guaranteeing (safety) quality of produce or guaranteeing that they themselves have not deliberately contaminated the produce at any stage of the growing to distribution terminal. It has been demonstrated that this particular strain of E.Coli can be transmitted from a sick person to others (or the produce).

Have there ever been foodborne illness outbreaks linked to food sold at farmers’ markets?

Since 2008, there have been seven major foodborne illness outbreaks and two recalls associated with food products from farmers’ markets causing 80 known reported illnesses and one death. Additionally, while some foodborne illnesses have been reported from farmer’s markets, it is hard to discern all of them.

Hospitals, doctors, and the CDC share as much information as they can, but consumers often do not report a sickness— and when they do it can easily be mistaken for a “stomach bug.”

One of the more notable outbreaks occurred in 2011 when 15 people were sickened and one person died from consuming Escherichia coli O157:H7 infected strawberries purchased at roadside and farmers’ markets in Oregon. (Same bug and strain in the current E.Coli contamination of Romaine Lettuce)

Another outbreak involving fresh produce occurred in 2008, when 98 people became ill with Campylobacter infections after eating contaminated raw bagged peas sold at five Alaskan farmers’ markets. More recently in 2010, people where sickened by Salmonella contaminated guacamole, salsa, and tamales at an Iowa farmers’ market.

Farmers markets unequivocally safe? Hardly.

references: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/...steria-abound/ - Penn State finds E.Coli and deadly Listeria at farmers markets.

Many vendors at farmers markets take inadequate precautions to prevent the spread of foodborne illness, and they should be trained to reduce food-safety risks, according to Penn State researchers who completed the final phase of an innovative five-year study.

https://www.medicinenet.com/script/m...iclekey=185887 - illness-causing E. coli bacteria were found on nearly one-quarter of herbs bought at farmers markets, according to a new study.

https://www.infectioncontroltoday.co...lla-and-e-coli -

Dec 16, 2014

Researchers in Chapman University’s Food Science Program and their collaborators at University of Washington have just published a study on the presence of Salmonella and E. coli on certain herbs sold at farmers’ markets.

The study focused on farmers’ markets in Los Angeles and Orange counties in California, as well as in the Seattle, Washington, area. Specifically tested were samples of the herbs cilantro, basil and parsley. Of the 133 samples tested from 13 farmers’ markets, 24.1 percent tested positive for E. coli and one sample tested positive for Salmonella.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/w...-syndrome.html - a person reports their life threatening bout with E. Coli after getting and eating food from a local "farmers market"

[onawah]

See: House Farm Bill Would Sweep Away Hundreds of State Safeguards

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1261225

[waves]

What I instantly recognized was another irresponsible, fear mongering narrative being fed to the 5 obedient accomplice conglomerates for their 1000's and 1000's of cable, tv and print outlets to blanket America with the always very NLP wordcrafted reports.

I live in a farming community and knew that the number of local organic growers everywhere had vastly muliplied due to demand, were 85% delivering less than 50 miles away and even selling year round in cold climates at farmer's markets due to ongoing greenhouse production. I knew how valuable their efforts were and how small their profit margins were and I instantly recognized how this irresponsible proclamation could really hurt some. Of course the narrative crafters knew how to phrase it truthfully and did not.

I can't make big changes in this world, but what I can do is keep poking holes in the social engineering narrative as they come up in places like Avalon where many new eyes might read and a new domino might start falling for someone to wake up to the hidden agendas and manipulations beneath every exaggerated fear mongering msm narrative like this one.

I especially realize it's being part of the problem to staunchly and blindly defend the plausible deniability truth nuggets in any msm narrative without correctly characterizing the rest of the story that always changes the truth of it.

I'm very proud to stand with the farmers who would be very appreciative of my small effort over a defender of corrupt government agencies who feels a need to step on me with the arrogant proclamation that I'm only whining that my 'expectations' weren't met.

This was in my mailbox this morning.

(sorry, tried a few ways, not sure why this 600+ pixel wide image is coming out so reduced, if a mod can make it more readable, much appreciation)

[Bob]

Romaine is still in the news.

Nine more people have become sick after eating romaine lettuce amid an E. coli outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The total of people infected is now 52 across 15 states, the CDC said Thursday.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=aQ0dyKg7JHE

“Traceback information from four restaurants in three different states so far has implicated 10 different distributors, 12 different growers, and 11 different farms as potential sources of the contaminated lettuce,” the FDA said Thursday, 6 December.

Even with that information, it’s still the case that, “the outbreak cannot be explained by a single farm, grower, harvester, or distributor.”

For the last two weeks, federal and state investigators have been inspecting farms and lettuce cooling facilities in California and collecting samples of soil, water, romaine lettuce and “scat samples” that were identified as potential sources. “To date, E. coli O157:H7 has not been found in any of the lettuce, soil or scat samples. Results of water testing being conducted by CDC are pending,” the FDA said. What that means is that what exactly is happening at the Farms in the region of question is UNKNOWN.. HOW the infection is contaminating the Romaine.

The highest number of cases have been reported in California and New Jersey, each reporting 11 people sick.

Seven people in Michigan, and six each in New Hampshire and New York were reported.

Other states affected include: Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

Nineteen people have been hospitalized, including two who suffered from kidney failure. No deaths have been linked to the outbreak.

Health officials in Canada are investigating an additional 27 cases.

On December 6th the Centers for Disease Control (US CDC) - https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-11-18/index.html

Here is what they say now

Epidemiologic and traceback evidence from the United States and Canada indicates that romaine lettuce harvested from the Central Coastal growing regions of northern and central California is a likely source of the outbreak.

They have not said for certain that the Romaine Lettuce was indeed from that region and no other region. That is significant.

They also say this:

• If the romaine lettuce is not labeled with a harvest growing region, do not buy, serve, sell, or eat it.
• Romaine lettuce labeled with a harvest region outside of the Central Coastal growing regions of northern and central California is not linked to the outbreak.
  
  Areas not linked to this outbreak include the desert growing region near Yuma, Arizona; the California desert growing region near Imperial County and Riverside County; the state of Florida; and Mexico.
  .
  
• If you purchased romaine lettuce and do not know where it was harvested, do not eat, serve, or sell it and throw it away.
  
• This advice includes all types or uses of romaine lettuce, such as whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes that contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad.
  
• Wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators where romaine was stored. Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator.
  
• If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away.
  
• Hydroponic or greenhouse-grown romaine lettuce has not been linked to this outbreak.
  
• Take action if you have symptoms of an E. coli infection.

[Bob]

So I was in the market yesterday walking through the produce section, getting my greens and tomatoes, looking at the onions and carrots.. And there was a fresh crop of Romaine on the shelves, both in the organic section and the regular..

I took a look at a head of it, and it now had a growing label location wrapped around the bunch of leaves. I looked at that, and it said Salinas California and had a lot number on it. I didn't notice a date on the tag. It was rather sparse in description.

Below is how the current argument from the growers and the FDA (that is the Food and drug administration)... is proceeding:

FDA says these counties below are suspect (although they can't pin it on which farm, or any particular Romaine lettuce coming from the farm, as soil/scat/lettuce tests are showing NEGATIVE. So they are going to try to test the water sources to see if it has been coming from there (the e.Coli bacteria).

The FDA said in addition to the new labels, the leafy green industry has agreed to establish a task force to prevent "ongoing safety problems with romaine lettuce." That could involve creating standards for tracing specific products, making the labels a permanent fixture and expanding them to other products.

The Arizona and California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, which represent the vast majority of lettuce growers in the United States, issued an online apology and promised to work with growers and shippers to adopt the new labels.

INDUSTRY: "We continue to express how truly sorry we are to those who have been sickened by this outbreak," LGMA officials said in a joint statement. "We must do better and redouble efforts to determine how and why this happened."

CDC and FDA says Romaine from these counties should be tossed:

Do not to eat romaine grown in six California counties on the Central Coast: Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura counties.

OK so here I am in the store and I have a list of COUNTIES in California where the tainted Romaine Lettuce is suspect, and the LABEL that I see on the Romaine has a TOWN NAME, and NO COUNTY listed, and no particular farm listed just some CRYPTIC CODE...

So are the farmers and The Arizona and California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement actually doing what is needed to protect Consumers of the Romaine Produce ??

Hardly it seems to me. How am I going to pull out my SmartPhone and do a search on Salinas California and try to determine if the Romaine in the bin infront of me is from a suspect area or clear?

How is a mom with kids in tow going to sort out that the new Romaine back on the shelf is clear? Patience, trust of the Store that their buyer did the checking/research? Do we know that the store disinfected it's shelves, boxes, shipping vehicles? Hardly.

I was disappointed to see non-compliance, basically a form of "deception" in labeling, where if the protection/warning Agencies said LABEL it (to show the counties affected that were producing a suspect product that could make people sick), that the industry took to "labeling it" with a town, not a county, thereby making it difficult to see if the produce was in-fact cleared.

Awful..

[Bob]

Well it's been bugging me, Salinas California as the growing location for the fresh heads of Romaine Lettuce that I saw on the shelf yesterday..

OK, let's take a look, where is Salinas California... OH..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinas,_California - Salinas California is the County Seat of MONTEREY COUNTY California. OH..

from the above post:

CDC and FDA says Romaine from these counties should be tossed:

Do not to eat romaine grown in six California counties on the Central Coast: Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura counties.

Oh Dear.. My favorite supermarket store is stocking Romaine Lettuce Produce from SALINAS of MONTEREY COUNTY California..

Something is wrong with this picture..

[Bob]

What's the issue with Salinas, or Salinas Valley produce? Has there been a problem for quite some time?

Going back years, various farms have been identified as using contaminated (sewage) water for irrigation of their greens production.

(yuck)

Growing location - Salinas FLASHBACK to September 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal health officials told California farmers to improve produce safety in a pointed warning letter last November, nearly a year before the multistate E. coli outbreak linked to spinach.

In fact, the current food-poisoning episode is the 20th since 1995 linked to spinach or lettuce, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Though state and federal officials have traced the current outbreak to a California company's fresh spinach, they haven't pinpointed the source of the bacteria that have killed one person and sickened at least 113 others. A second death was being investigated in the outbreak, which involves 21 states.

The FDA is still warning consumers not to eat fresh spinach.

"There is always a question in the back of our mind whether it may have been a deliberate attack on the food supply. Currently, there is nothing in the epidemiology to consider this deliberate," said Dr. David Acheson of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Bad Water

[..] contaminated irrigation water.. that's been a problem in California's Salinas Valley. The area on California's central coast produces much of the U.S. spinach crop.

19 other food-poisoning outbreaks

There have been 19 other food-poisoning outbreaks since 1995 linked to lettuce and spinach, according to the FDA. At least eight were traced to produce grown in the Salinas Valley. The outbreaks involved more than 400 cases of sickness and two deaths.

In 2004 and again in 2005, the FDA's top food safety official warned California farmers they needed to do more to increase the safety of the fresh leafy greens they grow.

"In light of continuing outbreaks, it is clear that more needs to be done," the FDA's Robert Brackett wrote in a Nov. 4, 2005, letter.

Suggested actions included discarding any produce that comes into contact with floodwaters. Rivers and creeks in the Salinas watershed are known to be periodically contaminated with E. coli, Brackett said.

Meanwhile, the FBI is monitoring the situation.

=======

We could do more flashbacks (and may in subsequent posting tracing back this contamination coming out of California), but suffice to say, what the FDA currently is doing is FINALLY looking at the water source, having FIRST checked scat/soil/actual lettuce for contamination..

As early as 1995 the FDA knew (and the farmers knew) that the water from the Salinas River was indeed contaminated with the dangerous strain of E.Coli, but yet they use it for irrigation and the FDA puts the water testing NECESSITY for getting to the source of the contamination at the BOTTOM of the LIST to check.. hmmm

historic reference: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/14841731/n...ning-outbreak/

[Bob]

We all love Santa Barbara, the town of - reminds me of Boulder, Colorado with water..

E. coli tainted romaine lettuce linked to farm in Santa Barbara County

This outbreak has been traced to the Adam Brothers Family Farm in Santa Barbara County.

The farm, Adam Brothers Family Farm, has stopped shipping..

FLASHBACK to 2016

In the midst of a severe farmworker shortage in Santa Barbara County, hundreds of undocumented workers have been laid off in Santa Maria as the result of Homeland Security investigations.

This week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents ordered Bonita Packing Company to terminate 291 farmworkers with invalid Social Security numbers.

In December, virtually the same thing happened at Adam Brothers Family Farm ​— ​co-owned by County Supervisor Peter Adam ​— ​displacing a majority of their total workforce.

Co-owned by a COUNTY SUPERVISOR ??

Adam Brothers Family farm has a history of being investigated by Homeland Security, and has had a "disgruntled employee" sue.

The dangerous e.Coli strain was found in sediment from an agricultural water reservoir used for irrigation.

Does that without doubt implicate this Grower as the cause, the focal point, and epicenter? Hardly..

Found in free flowing water? No. In sediment, or sand dug up from the bottom of the reservoir.


This farm does not operate in multiple counties, but the FDA says this (no doubt to put a pin in the Romaine Lettuce fiasco)..

The FDA said the problem appears to be coming from lettuce grown in three California counties.

"We've identified a positive sample result for the outbreak strain in the sediment of a local irrigation reservoir used by a single farm owned and operated by Adam Bros. Farms in Santa Barbara County," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., said in a statement.

The FDA said the farm has not shipped any romaine lettuce since Nov. 20 and has "committed to recalling products" that came into contact with the water supply.

Hardly at all having found THE source..