OT: Salmonella Outbreaks Now Higher Amoung Fresh Produce

[Guest guest]

This was in the news currently but I can't find a current link to

information. I heard it on news. News segment said more cases of

salmonella were more frequently from fresh produce than with meat or

poultry due to unsanitary handling of produce and lack of

oversight...that was in recent news, not below article. This is

discouraging since mold and mycotoxin free diets stress " fresh "

produce and meats, supposed to stay away from grains, so if one

doesn't feel safe eating fresh produce, that leaves meat, or what??

I stopped eating spinach and lettuce a few months ago. What could

be answer. All I can think of is your local farmer but it is

getting harder and harder to protect your health from contaminated

or mishandled food. I don't have time to grow things myself!!!!

http://www.cspinet.org/new/200511211.html

Salmonella Outbreaks Linked to Produce on the Rise

Produce is Primary Cause of Large Salmonella Outbreaks

Most people properly associate Salmonella with raw poultry. But

according to an analysis of food-poisoning outbreaks by the Center

for Science in the Public Interest, fresh produce is catching up

with chicken as a major culprit of Salmonella infections. And, says

CSPI, produce-related outbreaks tend to be larger than poultry-

related outbreaks, and sicken more people, sometimes hundreds at a

time.

In CSPI's Outbreak Alert! database, which contains information on

nearly 4,500 outbreaks between 1990 and 2003, produce triggered 554

outbreaks, sickening 28,315 people. Of those 554 outbreaks, 111 were

due to Salmonella. Although poultry has historically been

responsible for far more Salmonella infections, in the most recent

years in CSPI's database, produce seems to be catching up. From 1990

to 2001 poultry accounted for 121 Salmonella outbreaks and produce

accounted for 80. But in 2002-2003, produce accounted for 31

Salmonella outbreaks and poultry accounted for 29.

" Fresh fruits and vegetables are at the center of a healthy diet, so

it's critical that steps are taken to improve their safety, " said

CSPI food safety director Caroline DeWaal. " FDA should require

growers to limit the use of manure to times and products where it

poses no risk. And packers and shippers should mark packaging to

ensure easy traceback when fruits and vegetables are implicated in

an outbreak. "

Although produce outbreaks were responsible for the most illnesses,

seafood was responsible for more outbreaks, 899, than any other

food, but only 9,312 illnesses. Poultry triggered 476 outbreaks

involving 14,729 illnesses; beef triggered 438 outbreaks involving

12,702 illnesses, and eggs triggered 329 outbreaks involving 10,847

illnesses. CSPI's database includes only outbreaks where both the

food and the pathogen are identified, so its data represents only a

fraction of the total burden of foodborne illnesses. The CDC

estimates that 76 million Americans get sick and 5,000 die from

foodborne hazards each year.

In recent years, Salmonella outbreaks have been traced back to

lettuce, salads, melons, sprouts, tomatoes, and other fruit- and

vegetable-containing dishes. In 2004, there were three separate

outbreaks involving 561 Salmonella infections that were linked to

contaminated Roma tomatoes. From 2000 to 2002, Salmonella-

contaminated cantaloupe imported from Mexico sickened 155 and killed

two.

Salmonella isn't the only pathogen that ends up on produce. In 2003,

green onions in salsa from a Pennsylvania ChiChi's restaurant

transmitted hepatitis A to 555 people, killing three. Also that

year, E. coli on a bagged salad mix sickened more than 50 restaurant

patrons in the San Diego area.

CSPI has long recommended the creation of a single food safety

agency and an emphasis on improving on-farm practices to help curb

foodborne illness. FDA-regulated foods are linked to two-thirds of

foodborne illness outbreaks, yet the FDA's budget is only 38 percent

of the total federal food safety budget. While USDA has the

resources to inspect meat plants daily, the FDA inspects food

facilities it regulates on average just once every five years.

Neither agency has principal responsibility for overseeing on-farm

food-safety practices.

CSPI's report, " Outbreak Alert! Closing the Gaps in Our Federal Food

Safety Net, " is updated annually, and is available at

http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/outbreak_report.html