Commissioner Farmer says FDA must speed up salmonella investigation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
For more information contact:Bill Clary
(502) 564-4696


FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer today demanded that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration speed up its investigation into the salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,200 people nationwide. He said the agency is harming farmers whose products are not involved in the outbreak, as it did when it implicated tomatoes in June.

Last week the FDA advised consumers to avoid eating raw jalapeno peppers or foods made with raw jalapeno peppers after a single pepper tested positive for Salmonella Saintpaul. The pepper came from a produce distribution center in McAllen, Texas, and was traced back to a farm in Mexico.

“There is no evidence that any peppers grown in Kentucky are contaminated,” Commissioner Farmer said. “The FDA again has issued overly broad advice to consumers that will have severe consequences for growers. We know of one Kentucky farm family that lost a contract to sell jalapeno peppers to a major retailer because of the FDA’s guidance, and now they’re in danger of going out of business, even though they grew their peppers under Good Agricultural Practices guidelines and there is nothing connecting their products to this outbreak.”

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) is a program to educate fruit and vegetable growers and processors on best practices for growing, transporting and handling produce to minimize the risk of food contamination. The state and the University of Kentucky launched GAP last year. Since then, 855 Kentucky producers have been trained on GAP principles.

In June, the FDA advised consumers to avoid eating certain tomatoes in an attempt to stem the outbreak. As a result, produce buyers stopped buying tomatoes from Florida, resulting in an estimated $100 million loss to that state’s tomato industry. Since then the FDA has changed its advice to say that tomatoes now available in the domestic market are not involved in the outbreak.

Kentucky Proud fruits and vegetables are available at farmers’ markets, roadside stands, Kentucky state resort parks and some grocery stores and supermarkets.