Courtesy Fresh Express

Fresh Express Veggie Lover’s Salads with a produce code of I208 and a use-by date of Aug. 10 are being recalled by Salinas, Calif.-based Fresh Express. More than 2,800 bags of salad were distributed in as many as 27 states.

Packages of Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International’s Salinas, Calif.-based salad division Fresh Express’ Veggie Lovers Salad with a product code of I208 and use-by date of Aug. 10 are the only ones involved in this recall.

The code and date are in the upper right-hand corner of each package.

A test by the Ohio Department of Agriculture on the product yielded a positive result for the listeria bacterium, which led the company to issue the recall. Barbara Hines, a spokeswoman for Fresh Express, said the recall was issued the same day the company was contacted by the department of agriculture.

“The recall was issued within a few hours. We only received the information yesterday,” Hines said on the afternoon of Aug. 11. “The team assembled immediately. At this point, all retail contacts have been made—we started yesterday when the reacall was announced.”

For Fresh Express, because of its size, the almost 3,000 cases involved is a very limited number of cases, Hines said.

Fresh Express’ own traceability assessment and review of food safety documentation turned up negative for listeria. Hines said the both the company and food safety authorities continue to investigate the contamination.

“Based on the information we have at this time, we do have a reason to think that this is no more than an isolated incident,” Hines said. “This is still the result of one test on one package.”

Fresh Express distributed the product to 13 states, and cases could potentially have gone to 14 more through redistribution.

Courtesy Fresh Express

Fresh Express’ Veggie Lover’s Salad includes iceberg and romaine lettuces, as well as carrots, red cabbage, snow peas and radishes.

The salad mixes were distributed in Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Kansas, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and were possibly redistributed to Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Connecticut and Mississippi.

In July, Fresh Express recalled romaine lettuce salad products after a third-party laboratory for the Food and Drug Administration came up with a positive test result for E. coli O157:H7. No illnesses were reported with the July recall or with the current one.

Fresh Express has a customer response center open for calls from consumers and retailers concerning the recall, at (800) 242-5472.

202/225-4071 (office)

202/271-8587 (cell)0

Washington, DC – Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) wrote the following letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) calling on her to stop blocking a vote on food safety legislation in the Senate.

Dingell is the author of H.R. 2749, the “Food Safety Enhancement Act,”

which passed the U.S. House overwhelmingly with bipartisan support almost a year ago.

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

United States Senate

331 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Feinstein:

I am writing to express deep concern with the lack of progress being made in the United States Senate on critical food safety legislation. My concern stems from recent press accounts detailing the cause of delay on Senate consideration of S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. Recent press accounts, including a July 11 Washington Post article titled Advocates Run Ads Urging Senate to Pass Food Safety Bill, indicate the cause for delayed consideration is your insistence on adding controversial language to the bill that would ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food and beverage containers. While I am sensitive to your goals and believe that your intentions are virtuous, I respectfully ask that you reconsider your current obstruction on this issue and find a suitable compromise that would allow prompt consideration of critically needed food safety legislation.

As you may know, I am the author of H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act, comprehensive food safety legislation that will grant the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authorities necessary to ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply. The case for food safety legislation has been made–each year approximately 76 million illnesses occur, more than 300,000 persons are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from foodborne illness.  The urgency for a legislative solution is renewed with each new outbreak of illness from bad food. While not a companion measure, S. 510 includes many of the same authorities included in my legislation. H.R. 2749 passed the House in November

2009 overwhelmingly, with bipartisan support. Both bills will make the greatest improvements to food and drug law since 1938 and will save the lives of thousands of Americans.

There has been much debate over the years on the safety of the use of BPA in food and beverage containers. The topic invokes passionate reactions on both ends of the spectrum. FDA, the regulatory agency with the scientific expertise to responsibly weigh the risks and benefits of the use of BPA, has expressed some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.  FDA is pursuing additional studies and is seeking public input and input from other expert agencies to provide greater clarity on potential health effects of exposure to BPA.  I share their concern and worked with my colleagues in the House to include language in H.R. 2749 that reflects this concern.

I implore you to not allow the perfect be the enemy of the good. Time is running out. Our choices are becoming increasingly clear, we can either find middle ground, or we can become obstinate in our views and fail to meet any of our goals.  It would be calamitous if a bill to protect American consumers from unsafe food cannot become law this year because of controversy over a single point.

Thank you for your consideration of this letter, and for all you do on behalf of American consumers.

With every good wish,

Sincerely,

John D. Dingell

Member of Congress

You can read about the recall information from this FDA post – Fresh Express Romaine Recall

Spinach sold under the brands of Krisp-Pak, Lancaster Fresh, Giant and America’s Choice should be discarded if the label says “Best Enjoyed By 19 Jun 10 through 27 Jun 10,” authorities said.

Earlier in the week, the state issued a recall for 10-ounce packages of Krisp-Pak Ready to Eat Hydro-Cooled Fresh Spinach with the code: “Best Enjoyed By: 23 Jun 10, Product of USA, 10/158/09:17/1/05.”

State inspectors collected the product from a Farm Fresh store in Elizabeth City. No illnesses associated with this product have been reported.

The recall extends to products sold in North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“Consumers who have this product should throw the contents of the bag away and contact the Lancaster Foods at 1-800-247-8125 for additional information,” Dan Ragan, director of the Agriculture Department’s Food and Drug Protection Division, said in a statement. “Listeria is particularly dangerous to persons with weakened immune systems and pregnant women.”

Healthy individuals might suffer only short-term symptoms, such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

“SB510…More Bad News, Really Bad”

The PTI initially gained support from a handful of major retailers of which many now have backed away from their once vocal and unwavering support.  The push now is more from the vendors that can profit from the PTI rather than industry members themselves.  Can the vendors push it successfully, absolutely not.

Once the costs started to be known everyone started running away, hiding and waiting for the light of day to shine thru the dark cloud of the PTI.  Cost to a grower shipper, evaluated by IFT and others including two growers in Salinas estimated at $0.10 to $0.15 per carton.  When this writer was one of the owners of River Ranch Fresh Foods, if we were going to spend that kind of money, we were building a new processing plant or purchasing another distribution center, certainly not trying to reinvent our already successful traceability capabilities!  Cost to a wholesaler/distributor – how about around $0.08 per carton JUST for scanning requirements!  What does that do to the retail price of a head of lettuce after the retailer (and rightly so) has to mark up by 40% +/-.

Is anyone aware that times are tough, profits are down, consumers are watching every penny and the outlook isn’t yet a field of roses?

The IFT is interested in pilots, the industry is interested in pilots but where is the centralization of information and dissemination?  The really sad part is that when the PTI is understood, the GTIN, and the whole picture, it is an effort in futility.  The same retailers plus PMA pushed for this same thing in 2003, implementation of the GTIN…it died then for the same reasons it will fail this time.  The industry cannot afford this type of cost when there is NO benefit.  The PTI doesn’t trace any more effectively than current methods, it simply adds cost.

How about compliance?  Oh, that isn’t required, this is totally optional for companies.  What about the laws?  Sure HR2749 and SB510 will increase requirements, but it takes NOTHING close to the cost of the PTI to meet upcoming laws. And in fact, PTI does not even comply with the new laws as they are currently written.  One example is imports.  In HR2749 it states that the law regarding traceability will apply to imports as well as domestic.  PTI doesn’t even attempt to address imports which are about 15% of this wonderful nations food supply!

Where do we go from here?  There are options, they can be done independently or they can be grouped into a variety of options.  Read HR2749 and SB510 with regards to traceability.  Then know that the majority of the industry is already in compliance.  Room for improvement, you betcha.  Is everyone complying with current laws?  No, unfortuantely.  Is the PTI the answer or even a viable solution – Go buy lottery tickets, your percentage for success is much higher!

The article in itself is a good one.  The comments noted on it are worth reading as well.   PTI Pilot projects spur questions from industry

Having said that, much of the “assessment” portions have little changes at this point. 

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-510&tab=summary

Collecting fees related to food facility re-inspection, food recalls, qualified importer program and more.  Read through the list and if you wish further information, you can find the bill both in its entirety as well as just the traceability sections here, and these are also on our website.

SB510 full version      SB510 traceability section