Sludge Watch ==> California Urged to Monitor Farms for Food Safety

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:


In looking at the issue of whether sewage effluent from the Monterey sewage 
plant could be implicated in the spinach outbreak: many may not be aware 
that effluent is running through 22 miles of pipes delivering sewage 
effluent to be sprayed on produce in the Salinas Valley.

The plant claims that the water they discharge into the pipe is quite clean. 
  But what arrives at the other end of that pipe?

In Walkerton, after the ecoli 0157 outbreak, after the wells were fixed and 
the chlorinator was replaced and very clean chlorinated water was put 
throught the pipes, contaminated water was running out of the tap in 
people's homes and work places.   They discovered that  the municipal 
drinking water pipes had slime coatings of bacteria.  The pipes themselves 
became a source of contamination.  Quiety, they dug up the streets of 
Walkerton and replaced the pipes that deliver drinking water.

So what about the Salinas Valley?  Are there slime coatings of bacteria in 
those sewage effluent pipes?  What is the quality of the water arriving at 
the other end?
............................................................



For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Contact: Jeff Cronin,  202-777-8370, or Patti Truant 202-777-8316

California Urged to Monitor Farms for Food Safety

States Can Move Faster Than the Federal Government to Implement Standards, 
Says CSPI
WASHINGTON's”The state of California should move quickly to adopt 
regulations governing the production of fruit and vegetables in California 
since no federal agency has yet adopted standards, according to the 
nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). In a legal 
petition filed with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Department 
of Health Services Director Sandra Shewry, CSPI food safety director 
Caroline Smith DeWaal said that mandatory regulations governing manure, 
water and sanitation on farms could help reduce the number of produce-borne 
food outbreaks, such as the recent outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 traced to 
California-farmed spinach.

'California should implement standards to protect its consumers and its 
produce industry, instead of waiting for Congress or one of the federal 
agencies with food safety responsibilities to step in,' DeWaal said. 'This 
is clearly a case where prompt action at the state level could prevent 
future outbreaks.'

CSPI urged the officials to adopt measures similar to the Hazard Analysis 
and Critical Control Points (HACCP) standards that meat and poultry 
producers are required to comply with nationwide. HACCP systems coupled with 
test and hold programs for ground beef have proven effective in reducing the 
number of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks linked to beef. Meanwhile, outbreaks 
linked to fresh produce have increased in recent years, according to CSPI. 
In addition to the recent spinach outbreak, tomatoes, lettuces, melons, 
sprouts, carrot juice and other foods contaminated with E. coli, Salmonella 
or other pathogens have caused outbreaks. Those pathogens are usually 
'though not always' linked back to animal agriculture, which CSPI says 
warrants a particular regulatory focus on manure and water.

The same strain of E. coli that sickened 200 and killed at least three in 
the recent spinach outbreak has been matched with that of cattle manure 
found near one of the spinach fields at issue. CSPI says that the use of raw 
manure as fertilizer should be prohibited during the growing season, and 
that composting practices should be monitored to ensure pathogens are 
destroyed. Water used for irrigation must be tested and found suitable and 
only drinkable water should be used in produce processing facilities, 
according to the group.

CSPI's petition also urges better hygiene and sanitation on farms, and for 
improved package markings that can be used to track back produce to the farm 
of origin.

"We are reaching a tipping point, where consumers may not trust voluntary 
industry programs and instead may choose to stop eating foods that are both 
convenient and vital to good health. I don't think Salinas County growers 
can afford to be the cause of another large outbreak," DeWaal said. 
"California often takes the lead in health and food safety issues when the 
federal government is slow to act. The state should exercise its leadership 
in this instance by giving our food supply a safe start on its farms."

The petition CSPI filed with the state of California is available at 
http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/ca_produce_petition.pdf.

In other action, last week CSPI wrote to U.S. Health and Human Services 
Secretary Mike Leavitt to request that the department do a fair and accurate 
reporting of the deaths and illnesses linked to the recent spinach outbreak. 
Specifically, CSPI asked that Leavitt declare June Edith Dunning, an elderly 
Maryland woman who died September 13 from complications due to E. coli 
0157:H7, as the fourth fatal victim of the spinach outbreak that affected 
consumers in 26 states and further, that Leavitt personally assess the 
methods being used by CDC to distinguish 'official' cases from 'suspected' 
cases and give a full accounting of the public health impact of this 
outbreak.

The letter to Leavitt is available at 
http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/leavitt_letter.pdf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To unsubscribe from CSPI news releases, reply to this
message with the word 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.

To edit your preferences, visit:
http://www.cspinet.org/new/newsjournal.html

Communications Department
Center for Science in the Public Interest
1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 332-9110
press at cspinet.org