Cow Poop. That is their preliminary “hypothesis”. They like that word. They used it four times in a short press release. Certainly would not want to go out on a limb and say “AHA, we found the root source of the problem.”

The FDA has been investigating the outbreak of romaine lettuce contaminated with E coli O157:H7 since the first week of April. The outbreak is credited with sickening over 200 people, with five associated deaths and nearly 100 hospitalizations. Cases were reported in 36 states and Canada saw cases.

To paraphrase an old friend, Nancy Donley, who lost her only child to an E coli foodborne illness and was president of S.T.O.P. when I was undersecretary for food safety at the USDA, “If you trace back an E coli outbreak long enough and hard enough, you will likely eventually bump into a cow.”

It took the FDA nearly four months to “bump into a cow” and when they did, they bumped into 100,000 of them occupying a feed lot only 400 feet from an irrigation canal used to water the lettuce farm(s) where the plants got contaminated, either from direct contact with the known contaminated water (last month’s news) or from “other means”.

“Other means” brings back memories of the E coli laced spinach from the Salinas Valley in 2006. Feral pigs were thought to have contaminated their hides wading thru a creek that separated cattle from the spinach fields, then broke through the fencing and contaminated the spinach by “other means”.

But in 2006 it only took a month to identify the farm and the distributors.

Dust containing E coli loaded fecal material can be carried by wild animals and by winds for a lot further than the mandated 400 feet of separation between feed lots and green leafy vegetable fields.

I am not blaming the CAFO here, just saying something needs to change.

We know cattle poop can contain E coli O157:H7 and other dangerous non-O157 STECS. We know from the 2006 incident and this incident that the precautions in place are not adequate.

Here are my ideas to stop this from occurring again.

Release the names of farms and distributors, FDA, just like the USDA has been doing for 10 years. Maybe they would be more careful of good manufacturing practices if not protected by “trade secrets.”
Triple, maybe quadruple the separation between feed lots and produce farms.
Test the environmental factors nears vegetable fields like creeks, streams, air and irrigation water. Always test irrigation water—this is not the first time it has been implicated in an outbreak.
Feedlots could insist that the only cattle they buy and feed out have been vaccinated with the E coli O157 vaccine. I know it costs a few dollars, but eventually the Bill Marlers of the world will be suing them if they get linked to an outbreak. Not to mention it might be a good thing for positive PR and public health.

To quote Mr. Marler from a blog he posted recently, “Having discovery and subpoena power is a great tool for the truth.”

He will find the farms and probably already knows the CAFO in the vicinity.

It is way past time to change our farming practices. Five deaths are demanding change for the good.

FDA “hypothesis” on feedlots, E coli, and romaine lettuce

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