Report: <I>Salmonella</I> Outbreak Exposes Food Safety Weaknesses

WASHINGTON — Weaknesses in food safety policy, organization and communications were all displayed during this summer’s outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul, according to a report released by the Produce Safety Project (PSP), an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University.

The report, “Breakdown: Lessons to Be Learned from the 2008 Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak," represents an in-depth review of the public record of last summer’s Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak that caused illnesses in more than 1,400 people across the country.

Congressional leaders and produce industry representatives have called for public health officials to conduct an analysis of the public health system’s response to the outbreak. The report is an effort to frame questions that such a review should consider. In particular, the report focuses on: food safety policy; the public health system’s organization, capacity and effectiveness in the outbreak response; and risk communications with the media and the public.

Highlights and recommendations from the report include:

The need for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use its existing statutory authorities to establish mandatory and enforceable safety standards for fresh produce. While FDA officials said the outbreak showed the need for these standards, they said Congress needs to pass legislation to grant it explicit authority to do so. However, the report notes that FDA has already used existing authorities to put in place preventive safety standards for seafood in 1995 and for juice in 2001.

The need for organizational reforms throughout the public health system for a more coordinated outbreak response. The report raises questions about how timely and effectively data was shared between public health agencies and if it contributed to a delayed identification of jalapeno and serrano peppers as a vehicle for Salmonella Saintpaul.

The need to have established and unified risk communication plans in place before an outbreak. The report documents “dueling“ public health messages from various agencies announcing the outbreak, and questions why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its presentation of data numerous times in the middle of the outbreak.

Source: The Associated Press