Food safety observers react to latest recall

By DAWN WITHERS
The Salinas Californian

Tough new food safety precautions and produce-tracking systems implemented last year after a fatal E. coli outbreak may have prevented sicknesses when salmonella-tainted spinach was recalled from stores this week.
Jim Bogart, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, said the fact that King City-based Metz Fresh was able to identify the latest problem, stop most of the spinach in the shipping process and quickly alert customers proves the industry safeguards have been successful.

"This is what we want to see," he said.

As more produce companies conduct more testing for contamination, more recalls and outbreaks will be announced, said University of California researcher Trevor Suslow, who worked closely with the industry in developing the marketing agreement's safety rules.

"I think the test of the industry is how we react to these types of situations," said Joseph Pezzini, vice president of operations for Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville.

Pezzini chairs the board that established and administers the new produce safety rules.

"No one was harmed by the product," he said, "and that's important."

But Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, questioned why it took so long for Metz Fresh to confirm its first positive test for salmonella.

"I can't imagine why the confirmatory test would have taken from Friday to Wednesday," she said. "Confirmatory tests can be run within 24, maximum 48 hours."
Metz Fresh officials did not immediately return an Associated Press call seeking further comment Thursday.

Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at the Consumers Union, faulted the produce industry for resisting mandatory government regulations and instead enacting its own leafy green marketing agreement.

"The spinach industry has set up this whole system that was going to prevent these problems," she said.

"Yet we have this kind of problem again."

Metz Fresh is "certainly to be commended for detecting the problem and issuing the recall, but why wasn't the system set up to test this before it left the plant," said Halloran, whose nonprofit organization tests food and provides information about threats to consumers.

State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, said the Metz Fresh recall demonstrates the marketing agreement is flawed.

Florez has been an outspoken critic of the new food safety rules and has called for state regulation of salad producers. Leafy greens handlers sign the existing agreement only voluntarily.

His legislation to put state health officials in charge of a mandatory food-safety program for leafy greens has stalled in the state Assembly.

Florez said he plans to hold a hearing on the product recall in Salinas next month.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS contributed to this report. Contact Dawn Withers at withers@thecalifornian.com.

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