The latest Salmonella outbreak comes courtesy of Pacific Coast Fruit Company, which produces Taylor Farms Organic Power Greens Kale Medley.
Alas, Salmonella do not care whether or not vegetables are USDA Certified Organic—even kale.
Coral Beach discusses the details of the investigation into this outbreak at Food Safety News this morning.
And food safety lawyer Bill Marler has some pointed questions about this outbreak.
Why no announcement of the Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak?
Why no recall of the product?
Given that the product was distributed nationwide, are we seeing a spike in Salmonella Enteritis cases in states other than Minnesota?
Why was the announcement removed from Pacific Coast Fruit Website?
He also has plenty to say about what another recent outbreak (this one due to frozen vegetables contaminated with Listeria) tells us about what is and what is not working in our current food safety system.
His essay makes the point that foodborne illness outbreaks due to contaminated meat are becoming increasingly rare. Most current outbreaks are due to contaminated vegetables.
How come? For meat, the system is working.
Regulation: prevention controls on meat and poultry went into effect in the mid-1990s.
The …