E coli: Farmers have a plan

2006-09-22 17:54

Salinas, California - Californian produce growers and processors are working to draw up new food-safety measures as government investigators trying to pinpoint the source of the deadly E coli outbreak narrow their search to three California counties.

Trade groups hoped to deliver the guidelines to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within a week, but were unsure how long it would take to win the agency's approval.

"We have people who hope this will be resolved soon so they can salvage something of this season," said Tom Nassif, president of Western Growers Association, an industry group representing about 3 000 fruit and vegetable farmers in California and other American states.

"Once we go to Washington and iron out those guidelines, we'll be much closer to a date."

Federal officials have required the industry to adopt new food-safety measures before they lift a week-old consumer warning on fresh spinach.

Nassif said it was still too early to provide details, but that the new measures would likely focus on better water and soil testing and beefed-up sanitation standards for field workers and packaging plants.

Warning costs farmers $50m

The guidelines will be part of a proposal for protecting produce from the bacteria.

One person has died and 157 have taken ill across the United States since the outbreak last month.

Idaho officials were investigating the death of a two-year-old, who died on Wednesday, reportedly after eating spinach.

Another proposal under consideration was to label spinach with its place of origin to reassure shoppers jittery about an E coli outbreak linked to leafy greens grown in California, said Dr David Acheson, of the FDA.

The industry's response to the E coli outbreak traced to bagged spinach from central California would build on existing efforts to protect produce from contamination rather than entail a complete overhaul, said Nassif.

The president of the Produce Marketing Association, Bryan Silbermann, estimated that the FDA's September 14 warning for consumers to stop eating fresh, raw spinach could cost farmers and vegetable packaging companies between $50m and $100m a month.

- AP