If you haven’t seen the Netflix documentary, “Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food,” that aired last week, you owe it to yourself, your industry compatriots and especially your family members to do so. It is heart-wrenching, tear-jerking and maddening. You’ll want to scream and point a quavering finger of blame at someone, anyone, for the victims who consumed foods not knowing they were contaminated with life-threatening pathogens. Contrary to industry claims, the documentary states categorically that the US does NOT have one of the safest food supplies in the world.

Multiple interviewees are quoted: Bill Marler, the Seattle-based attorney who has brought numerous lawsuits against food companies whose contaminated products have sickened people; Rosa DeLauro, the Congress woman from Connecticut, a self-proclaimed champion of food safety regulation; USDA officials; poultry industry company representatives; meat and poultry trade organization representatives; parents of children who have contracted illnesses and died from simply eating a hamburger or lettuce; and others on the fringes of the issue. “Poisoned: …” weaves all of this testimony into a fabric of failure: food producers who failed to recognize, failed to prevent and failed by blaming victims of the E. coli pathogen that caused illnesses and deaths.

If you have been in this meat and poultry industry for 30 or more years like I have, you probably remember the Jack in the Box (JIB) incident in 1992-93, when four Seattle-area children died from eating undercooked hamburgers from JIB. That incident was arguably the genesis of all the subsequent machinations to rid our meat supply of E. coli. However, it was Michael Taylor, then administrator of FSIS, who put the industry on notice in a speech before the American Meat Institute on Sept. 29, 1994. He stated, “Henceforth FSIS would consider raw ground beef containing any amount of the pathogen E. coli 0157:H7 to be adulterated, unlawful for sale, and thus subject to recall. Henceforth, FSIS would begin testing for E. coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef.” From that point, the meat industry was regulated into cleaning its own house.

But, the Netflix documentary was much more than a recrimination of JIB and its beef industry suppliers. No, it included the story of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and their conscious decision to ship contaminated peanut products to further processors, knowing full well that their peanuts had been implicated in sickening many and killing a few. The owner and president of PCA was subsequently sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Netflix went on to tell the story of E. Coli-contaminated spinach and romaine lettuce grown in California’s Salinas valley and Yuma, Ariz., areas, respectively. Again, the beef industry was implicated because of its closely located cattle feeding operations and their fecal runoff into those produce fields.

While the JIB E. coli or the spinach or romaine lettuce stories may be in the rear view mirrors of most, the Netflix documentary almost begs for redoubled industry efforts to eliminate such contaminants. Emanating from the meat industry, however, there are glimmers of hope: E. coli-tainted ground beef incidences have been dramatically reduced in the last decade, due in part to new USDA regulations and subsequent industry efforts that have improved cattle raising and beef processing safety interventions.

What more can the meat and poultry industry do to further reduce E. coli and salmonella contaminations in their products? It has been suggested that vaccinations for live animals are a potential preventive prophylactic. Another may be testing the feeds that the animals consume.

Dr. David Theno, a good friend of mine for many years (may he rest in peace), was recruited by JIB immediately after the Seattle tragedies to lead JIB’s effort to eliminate E. coli 0157:H7 in their hamburgers. He did so through a multi-faceted, vigorous, regimented and ultimately successful program. Maybe it will take another “Theno-like” total food industry effort to eliminate salmonella, as well as the last vestiges of meat borne E. coli.

Food safety: Who's responsible?

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