The deadly outbreak of E. coli bacteria traced to spinach grown
and packaged in San Benito County last year dealt our region’s
agriculture industry a huge financial blow.
The deadly outbreak of E. coli bacteria traced to spinach grown and packaged in San Benito County last year dealt our region’s agriculture industry a huge financial blow.
Actually, it was a one-two punch. First came the recall, when grocers across the country pulled packaged spinach from their shelves. That cost growers here millions in lost sales before food safety officials said it was OK to eat spinach again. Since then, sales have recovered slowly as consumers apparently remain wary of fresh spinach, in spite of general public awareness of its vitamin value and assurances that the product on the market today is safe.
The industry has responded as well as anyone could hope. Growers and handlers of fresh leafy greens have adopted stricter safety guidelines aimed at preventing any future contamination problems. The safety guidelines come in the form of a marketing agreement administered by the California Department of Agriculture.
We support the efforts of the agriculture industry to set up a system to address the problem. But what the industry is doing might not be enough, on its own, to satisfy consumers.
The nationwide consumer advocacy organization Consumer’s Union has made much of its concern about having the industry that was responsible for the E. coli outbreak write the new safety rules and then also have the responsibility for enforcing them.
As positive a step as it is, if the industry’s newly adopted program isn’t enough to restore consumer confidence in the safety of spinach, then it simply isn’t enough. We have no doubt that what the industry has done has resulted in a safer food product. But the bottom line is that many consumers apparently still have doubts.
That’s why we think the state Department of Health should be given the mandate to establish and enforce safety standards on farms and in the places where spinach and other leafy greens are processed and packaged for distribution. State Sen. Dean Florez has introduced a package of three bills that, as recently amended, would place responsibility for the safety standards with the Department of Health.
At least some of the consumer concern about the industry plan, which is being implemented in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, is that the historic role of the Department of Agriculture has largely been promotion of the state’s ag industry. Regulating health and safety has been more a matter for the Department of Health.
Food safety and consumer confidence are both crucial to the agriculture industry. The industry, which is speaking out against the proposed legislation, would benefit more in the long run from a cooperative approach to involving the Department of Health in regulating food safety.
The ag industry’s own self-watch program, coupled with regulatory oversight by the Department of Health, could be the one-two punch that wins back consumer confidence.
