COUNTY LETTUCE IN RECALLED SALAD BAGS

Mixed with greens from Colorado, Ohio
By MARIE VASARI
Herald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 09/19/2007 01:27:28 AM PDT

Two of the three lettuce varieties in a Dole bagged salad mix, recalled this week because of the presence of E. coli, were grown in the Salinas Valley. Dole Fresh Vegetables president Eric Schwartz confirmed Tuesday that the romaine and green leaf
lettuce in its Hearts Delight salad mix were farmed locally and mixed with butter lettuce from Ohio and romaine from growers in Colorado.

The lettuces, recalled in nine states and in Canada, were processed at Dole's plant in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 6, said Schwartz. Eighty-eight cases — 528 bags — were distributed in Canada, and 755 cases containing 4,530 bags were distributed in the U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Dole Food Co. issued a voluntary recall Monday, a day after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued an advisory in
Canada.

No illnesses have been reported in Canada, said Garfield Balsom, a spokesman for Canadian Food Inspection Agency Food Recall and Emergency Response. Dole has received no reports of illnesses.

While it was initially believed the product was distributed nationally across Canada, officials Tuesday narrowed the scope of the recall to eastern Canada. Balsom said the salad was shipped only to Quebec, Ontario and the Maritime provinces.

He said the agency would continue to monitor stores to verify that the recalled salad has been removed from shelves.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it would be looking to find out at what point the salad blend became contaminated and to see if other products
are affected.

"We'll go back and find the origins and determine where the product was produced and packaged," Balsom said.

Schwartz said the company, which is based in Monterey, has turned over paperwork detailing field audits, field and harvest data and shipping information to FDA investigators, and is cooperating with the agency.

The voluntary recall affects all packages of Dole's Hearts Delight salad mix sold in the United States and Canada with a "best if used by" date of Sept. 19, 2007, and a production code of A24924A or A24924B, Dole said.

The product was sold in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces in Canada, and in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee starting about Sept. 8, said Marty Ordman, a Dole spokesman.

Schwartz declined to identify the fields where the lettuce was grown, citing the ongoing FDA investigation.

The company was notified of the preliminary test results late Friday. Schwartz said the company notified the FDA when a second test confirmed the presence of E. coli on Sunday.

Schwartz said Dole has hired an independent consultant to verify that the company followed its prescribed washing and growing processes.

Schwartz declined to place a dollar value on the recalled produce.

Dole Food Co., the parent company of Dole Fresh Vegetables, reported 2006 revenues of $6.2 billion.

On Tuesday, an industry group representing small farm operations issued harsh criticism against the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, calling the voluntary program ineffective and skewed in favor of big business.

"This shows that the industry rules are not preventing E. coli 0157:H7 recalls or outbreaks in fresh-cut, processed salad," said Judith Redmond, board president
of Community Alliance with Family Farmers and partner at Full Belly Farm in Yolo County. "The industry's measures are ineffective because we don't know exactly
how E. coli 0157:H7 is spreading. What we do know is that these recalls and outbreaks are not occurring in traditional, fresh leafy greens. The industry needs to focus their rules on the problem in processed salad, not on traditional leafy greens."

According to the organization, processed bagged salads have been at the center of most reported illnesses traced to leafy greens. It is the centralized washing and packaging of mixed produce from different farms that increases risks of cross-contamination, so efforts to stem the spread of E. coli 0157:H7 should focus on the processing and bagging industry, according to the group.

Last year, an E. coli outbreak traced to bagged baby spinach sold under the Dole brand and processed by Natural Selection Foods LLC was blamed for the deaths
of three people and for sickening hundreds of people across the U.S.

Authorities identified a San Benito County cattle ranch next to spinach fields belonging to one of Dole's suppliers as being the source of the bacteria.

FDA spokesman Michael Herndon said the agency was talking to Westlake Village-based Dole about the situation.

An inspector from the Ohio agriculture department was at the plant Monday and Tuesday, said agency spokeswoman Cindy Brown. Tests performed on lettuce at the plant by Dole and the FDA came back negative for E. coli, she said.

"They have been to our plant and they will visit the growers," said Ordman.

The salad mix subject to the recall may have been available in the U.S. in states other than the nine identified by Dole because in some areas the product was distributed by a wholesaler with clients in overlapping markets, Ordman said.

Food contaminated with this strain of E. coli may not look or smell spoiled, but health officials say the bacteria can cause life-threatening illnesses.

Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Some people can have seizures or strokes and some may need blood transfusions and kidney dialysis, while others may live with permanent kidney damage.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.

See the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition guidelines at
www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/prodsafe.html.