Another Spinach Recall

In late August, almost exactly one year after E.coli-contaminated spinach killed three people and shook the leafy greens industry to the core, a grower in California’s Salinas Valley recalled 8,000 cartons of fresh spinach. There were no reports of illness related to the spinach, which was voluntarily recalled by Metz Fresh LLC. But, as might be expected considering the timing, consumer groups were quick to jump on the incident.

“It’s been one year since the E. coli spinach recall and we have yet another serious incident. Eight thousand cartons left the plant for distribution in the U.S. That’s about 8,000 too many,” said Jean Halloran, a Consumers Union food safety expert in a prepared statement. “There needs to be a hold and test policy that prevents food from ever leaving the plant. There’s also a glaring need for across-the-board improvements to FDA to enable its staff to do more routine inspections with the full authority to recall contaminated vegetables. At this point, we’re relying on the leafy green industry to essentially police itself.”

Metz Fresh spokesman Dennis Larsen disputed Halloran’s statement. “We put a hold on more than 90% of it right away, and a lot of it hadn’t even left yet,” said Larsen 10 days after the Aug. 28 recall. “Well in excess of 90% has been recalled, and we’re trying to learn the disposition of the rest.”

Cause Unknown

Larsen said only one sample was confirmed positive for Salmonella, and it’s still not known where the contamination occurred. He said the company acted as quickly as possible. The product was packed Aug. 22, and a presumptive positive came back Aug. 24. As soon as the contamination was confirmed on Aug. 28, which he said was delayed because it was over a weekend, the product was voluntarily recalled. “We’ve learned from the experience,” he said, “and we’re moving forward.”

As for why Metz Fresh doesn’t wait until the preliminary tests come back prior to shipping, which is known as a “test and hold” strategy, Larsen said the company does do it for specific clients who request it. Technology that enables companies to test produce and get the results back quickly has only become widely available recently, he said. “Metz Fresh has been moving in the direction of test and hold for the past few months,” he said.

University of California-Davis food safety expert Trevor Suslow says that companies can avoid recalls with a proper test and hold program. With better technology and heightened awareness, growers need to be ready for more positive tests, or the industry could suffer.

“Having systems that are tuned to prevent avoidable recalls is essential. Some may still occur, but the records of efforts to have done everything reasonable to catch contamination before it reaches the marketplace should maintain confidence,” he said. “Seeing periodic news on large recalls that get confused with actual illness or outbreaks is not helping.”