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GROUPS REACT TO SERIES ON PRODUCE ROLE IN OUTBREAKS

A recent series of front-page articles in The New York Times on food-borne illness outbreaks linked to produce is raising concerns in the industry.The three-part Times series -- which ran earlier in January -- offered an in-depth investigation of two food-safety crises involving E. coli O157:H7 and produce that occurred in recent years, examined how the products in those cases became contaminated

A recent series of front-page articles in The New York Times on food-borne illness outbreaks linked to produce is raising concerns in the industry.

The three-part Times series -- which ran earlier in January -- offered an in-depth investigation of two food-safety crises involving E. coli O157:H7 and produce that occurred in recent years, examined how the products in those cases became contaminated and explored what it said could be underlying problems at the produce processors involved that caused the outbreaks.

It focused specifically on the two processors -- juice-maker Odwalla, Half Moon Bay, Calif., and fresh-cut processor Fancy Cutt Farms, Hollister, Calif. -- and on retracing the scientific and regulatory communities' attempts to discover and grapple with the possibility of a new pathogen.

In interviews with SN, representatives of three major produce trade groups voiced mixed reactions to the newspaper's high-profile linking of fresh produce and food-borne illness. Each of the three criticized the Times coverage as, to some extent, one-sided or misleading on certain points.

Sarah DeLea, vice president of communications at the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, Alexandria, Va., called the headline of the first article, "Deadly Bacteria a New Threat to Fruit and Produce in the U.S.," inflammatory, but said that "overall, I think the articles hit home that you can't cut corners and people have got to make sure they have their safety measures in place."

"Raising the issue with an eye toward education is good," said Cathy Means, vice president of the Produce Marketing Association, Newark, Del., of the articles. "If it raises awareness and people are more careful, it's a good thing."

Means said that after the articles appeared, the PMA soon heard from retail members who were concerned about the articles' content and implications.

"Retailers have been calling. Their customers are concerned and they want someone to reassure them," she noted.

"They just said that people are expressing concern, but I haven't heard from retailers that their sales are off," she added. In response to some retailers' concerns, Means said, the PMA would fax the members a note, "saying that these are historical [outbreaks], and we are not aware of any now."

Means also noted the Times' attention to the topic is, in turn, "certainly drawing a lot of attention to food-borne illness and safety." The down side to that, she said, is that "it has the unfortunate effect of making people think these are current [outbreaks]."

She also criticized some of the reporting as not based on scientific fact. "There are some places [where] they have drawn conclusions that are not backed up by epidemiology," Means said; specifically, the possible method of contamination cited for both major outbreaks that the Times reported had not yet been confirmed by epidemiologists, she explained.

Edith Garrett, president of the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association, Arlington, Va., noted that although she thought "it's evident that the investigation was very thorough, I thought it was pretty much one-sided. I think the article was unbalanced and didn't talk about what our industry has done to address food safety."

The articles painted the produce industry in negative light, by "trying to blanket the whole industry in regard to the practice of one company," Garrett said, referring to the recounting of an E. coli outbreak caused by lettuce grown and packaged by Fancy Cutt Farms, a small processor.

Garrett said the article's assertion that many small processors were not taking sufficient safety precautions was unsubstantiated and that the reporter failed to cite other examples to back up the assertion.

The IFPA's concern about the content was so great it was prompted to send a letter to The Times, signed by Garrett, that noted that, "it is unfair to assert that there is a widespread problem with fresh produce based on the poor operations of one grower.

"The majority of fresh-produce processors go to great lengths to implement stringent sanitation procedures in their facilities to ensure the safest possible food for consumers," the letter to The Times went on.

Lisa McCue, the IFPA's director of communications, said the trade group had also received concerned calls from members since the articles had run. "They wanted to know if people were purchasing from Fancy Cutt. No one was," McCue said.

The IFPA's Garrett said she believed the produce industry had a great track record overall. "I think everyone in the fresh-cut produce industry has at all levels shown a lot of leadership by implementing new technologies to improve the safety of products."

United's DeLea didn't agree The Times articles had painted the produce industry in an overall negative light.

"I was pleased that they keep referring to Fancy Cutt Farms and didn't do a blanket lettuce industry [story]," noted DeLea. But she added, "I wish they would have pointed out that food-borne diseases associated with produce are rare."

The PMA's Means said that rarity may be the reason the articles were primarily focused on produce. "It's less often that produce is implicated," she said, and anytime you have something rarer it's more newsworthy.

"I think more could have been said about the efforts that the industry is taking to safeguard food," Means added.