June 4th, 2008
Another Salmonella outbreak responsible for more than 57 illnesses in
My best guess is
April?
I just don’t understand why it’s not mandatory that tomatoes and other past infected fruits and vegetables be inspected properly. If the tomatoes were inspected for infection by the USDA at the receivers’ warehouse, the infection would have been minimal. The inspector documents the lot number on the infected carton and presto, it’s traced back to the shipper, grower and then field of origin.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that Salmonella from raw tomatoes has sickened as many as 79,000 people in 12 multi-state Salmonella outbreaks since 1990.
Take a look at the current USDA Quality Standards for fresh Tomatoes. Fresh, effective October 1, 1991…Please note that these are only grading standards and the effective date!
My question is since we know that 79,000 were sickened since 1990 eating raw tomatoes infected with salmonella, then why has the inspection process not changed to protect the food supply?
In my past post I wrote “In order to protect our food supply, we must address vulnerability gaps in our current system at any point along the distribution chain up to the consumer that would allow accidental contamination of fresh produce”
It’s long over due that raw fruits and vegetables be tested for pathogens like the E. coli bacteria, salmonella, listeria, shigella and hepatitis at the receivers’ warehouse. In 2006, three people died and hundreds got sick from E. coli-contaminated spinach.
Did you notice the effective date grade standards for spinach leaves?
December 27, 1946!
That’s just insane and most consumers don’t have a clue because they never worked in the industry.
Stay Tuned.
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