Food Safety: Accountability Counts

Topps Meat Company was the largest producer of frozen hamburger patties in the United States until last month. After a USDA investigation into a nationwide E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, the Chicago-based company was found to have supplied the tainted meat, and faced with the economic consequences the company shuttered its doors and closed shop.

But why talk about beef in a fresh-cut fruit and vegetable magazine? Well, for one thing, the state of meat regulatory system point to where the FDA is heading for produce. After a 1994 E. coli outbreak killed four children, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service identified E. coli O157:H7 as an adulterant, meaning a positive result for the bacteria would lead to immediate regulatory action, including USDA closing the plant.

As with fresh-cut produce, E. coli O157:H7 isn’t introduced in the plant, but is found in the environment and introduced prior to processing – any cleaning processes only prevent cross-contamination. Yet in the meat industry, the processor is held responsible for the contamination, and the same reaction was seen in the 2006 outbreak in spinach.

So what can the produce industry learn from Topps? First, the role that immediate recalls can play. Consumers first began falling ill in late August and the first product was pulled from Wal-Mart shelves Aug. 30 – a preemptive move by the retailer. USDA identified E. coli O157:H7 in Topps products Sept. 7, but the company waited almost three weeks to issue a recall, and then for only 331,000 pounds of meat. FSIS then indicated that Topps’ production processes and facilities could not be considered safe, leading to the massive recall of nearly 22 million pounds of meat.

The produce industry as a whole must maintain a close relationship with FDA so that when a problem does occur, it can be investigated quickly and efficiently. Mistakes were made on both sides in the meat recall – FSIS took more than a week to come back with lab results early on in the investigation, and then Topps waited to recall its product – but the results were the same. A company is out of business, many are out of jobs and retailers are looking for products to fill their shelves.

Let’s not look at the costs of third-party audits, laboratory testing, sanitary design and traceback technology. Look at it as insurance against a single lapse taking down your entire operation – it can happen to you, and your company’s survival depends upon how quickly and efficiently you locate and isolate the contaminated product.