Farmers, Panetta address romaine lettuce food safety situation

After the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control told consumers on Thursday not to eat romaine lettuce from the Salinas Valley in California due to illnesses from E. coli O157, the head of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., both said they were devastated by the news and would work with the FDA and the CDC to try to figure out the root cause of the outbreak.

"No one is more frustrated than the producers of leafy greens that outbreaks continue to be associated with our products," said Scott Horsfall, CEO of the LGMA, a food safety program created in 2007 to prevent foodborne illnesses caused by lettuce and leafy greens.

"We are devastated as a leafy greens community when this happens," said Dan Sutton, a farmer from Oceano, Calif. "Our thoughts go to those affected by this outbreak. But that's why we want to continue to work with governmental agencies to learn why this is happening so that we can improve."

Panetta, who represents what he calls the "salad bowl" of the country, said "Today, I spoke with FDA leadership about the bacterial contamination outbreak linked to romaine."

"As the representative of the Salinas Valley, food safety is of the utmost importance to me and my constituents. I urged Deputy Commissioner [Frank] Yiannas to work collaboratively and communicatively with industry partners to minimize any health risks to consumers and reduce the loss of safe and healthy crops that are not connected to this outbreak. He promised to provide my office with daily updates throughout the investigation.

"I will continue to work with the FDA, CDC, and our producers to ensure that the investigation is completed in a timely manner so that our consumers are safe and our industry is secure in its production of romaine."

"Right now, romaine is being harvested in Arizona and southern California growing areas that are not part of this outbreak and harvest is nearly complete in the Salinas Valley," explained Horsfall. "Public health agencies have stated that only product from the Salinas area is included in the consumer advisory. Romaine producers will be working closely with their customers to make sure all product from Salinas is removed from marketing channels, but romaine from any other growing area is safe for consumption."

LGMA added,"This means that romaine from the following regions is safe: Yuma, Phoenix, Southern Arizona, Northern Arizona, Northern California, Santa Maria, Southern California, Imperial Valley, Coachella and Central Valley. Product from Mexico and other states is also cleared. Hydroponically and greenhouse grown romaine is also not implicated in the outbreak."

"For the past year, producers have been voluntarily labeling romaine lettuce with information on harvest date and growing region," explained Horsfall. "Today, this information provides consumers, retailers and foodservice operators with assurances the products they are purchasing have been identified as safe for consumption. We are hopeful these actions by industry will minimize withdrawal of safe product from stores and restaurants and reduce food waste."

The current outbreak is occurring at a time when the production of leafy greens in central California is transitioning to growing regions in southern California and Arizona. It appears that romaine lettuce involved in this outbreak was likely harvested in the Salinas Valley growing area in September and October.

"As farmers, we never want outbreaks to happen," stressed Sutton, who serves as the chairman of the LGMA. "We will continue to do everything we possibly can to improve our required practices, to improve the way we farm leafy greens and to make sure we can improve the safety of these products we are putting out to our consumers."

"The situation is heartbreaking," continued Sutton. "I have a very young family and the products we grow go to my family's dinner table. My children consume the very same products we are sending out to consumers across the nation. That's something I think about every day."