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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Readers Choice 2006 Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Our Valley Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend October 12, 2006 E. coli fallout Lawmaker blames California, federal agencies for spinach, lettuce problems From wire services A California Central Valley lawmaker on Wednesday said state and federal agencies had ample warning but didn't do enough to prevent the E. coli outbreaks that have killed three people across the country and shut down California's spinach and lettuce production. Food and health agencies are failing to demand that growers change practices that lead to contamination through tainted water and soil, state Sen. Dean Florez said during a hearing of the government oversight committee he chairs. "I don't think we can give consumers any confidence that we have fixed anything," Florez, D-Shafter said. Nine deadly E. coli outbreaks have been traced to spinach and lettuce from Salinas Valley growers over the last decade, he said. The recent outbreak sickened about 200 people nationwide. State agencies have exhibited a "lackadaisical" attitude since the last E. coli outbreak was traced to lettuce two years ago, Florez said. Advertisement The California Department of Health Services has yet to finish its probe of that 2004 outbreak and does not have a deadline for doing so, said Dr. Jeff Farrar, chief of the department's Food and Drug Branch. He said investigators sometimes never find the cause. Representatives of the produce industry urged Florez to wait until the probe of the most recent outbreak is completed before introducing new food-safety legislation. Instead, growers are offering to follow voluntary steps to ensure that fields and machinery are free of fecal matter, including testing water and soil for E. coli and inspecting crops for contamination before harvests, said Dave Puglia, vice president of the Western Growers Association. "We've been asleep at the wheel the last two years," Florez said. "We're going to have to get a lot tougher on this." In the meantime, farm interests from California's Salinas Valley to Washington, D.C., reacted angrily Wednesday to a ban on U.S. lettuce imports by Mexico. "This is an outrageous step that has no basis at all in science or food safety," said Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Assn. in Washington. The Mexican Ministry of Health on Tuesday blocked U.S. lettuce after the voluntary recall two days earlier by a Central Valley, Calif., farm of more than 8,500 cartons of green-leaf lettuce. Nunes Co. of Salinas had recalled the lettuce after discovering E. coli bacteria in irrigation water used on the crop. Tests found that the contamination was a generic form of E. coli, which is common in water and soil around the world and generally not harmful to humans. A toxic strain of the bacteria had recently contaminated Salinas Valley spinach, sickening nearly 200 people and killing three. None of the recalled lettuce was headed for Mexico. "The produce industry is being punished for being careful," Stenzel said. Froylan Gracia, agricultural counselor at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, defended the ban, saying that "countries can take actions that they think safeguard the lives of their citizens even if it seems subjective." He said regulators from both countries were working to resolve the issue. But that was of little comfort to Salinas Valley farmers whose business is laboring to rebound from the spinach scare. "Mexico has just added to our overall woes with consumer perception," said Bob Perkins, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. The state's $250 million spinach business "remains really down," he said. Perkins said growers were reporting that sales of other forms of bagged produce also had dipped, but he could not put a dollar figure on the decline. If not for the potential effects on the buying habits of American shoppers, the lettuce ban itself should have little economic fallout. Mexico is not a major buyer of U.S. lettuce, purchasing $8.3 million of the crop last year. California alone produces $1.7 billion of lettuce. Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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