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More Confusion Pours From Press Reports Of Pistachio Recall Source of
Article: http://www.perishablepundit.com/#3 One of the things that makes following the
FDA pronouncements on foodborne pathogens so infuriating is that FDA’s
officials tend to say things without clarifying their meaning or
significance. Reporters then report what they are told,
and it leaves a kind of innuendo without actually saying anything. So Jane Zhang over at The Wall Street
Journal wrote a short piece titled Officials
Find Salmonella at California Pistachio Plant: Federal health
officials now have proof that the California plant at the center of a
nationwide pistachio recall was contaminated with salmonella, but they are
still trying to figure out if the contaminated nuts caused any outbreaks of
human illnesses. David Acheson, the
Food and Drug Administration’s associate commissioner for foods, said the
agency found the Salmonella Montevideo strain in three samples taken from
equipment at the plant of Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., based in
Terra Bella, Calif. The strain matches the bacteria that Kraft Foods Inc. had
found in products supplied to the company by Setton. Kraft reported its
findings to the FDA last month…. It is such a short piece yet it is also a
kind of puzzle: First, it says that “…officials now have
proof that the California plant at the center of a nationwide pistachio
recall was contaminated with salmonella…” Ok, fine but, what, precisely
does this prove? Do other pistachio plants not have salmonella? Because this
product will go through a kill step, the FDA didn’t even go back to the farms
to trace back the salmonella. FDA simply doesn’t care about this detail.
It expects salmonella on the raw product and expects the roasting to kill it.
So, very likely, all pistachio plants that handle raw product will have some
salmonella. Second, the piece explains that “David
Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration’s associate commissioner for foods,
said the agency found the Salmonella Montevideo strain in three samples taken
from equipment at the plant of Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc…” Yet
this just adds to the confusion. So they found one of the four strains that
had been identified. Put another way, they have not found three of the four strains
that had been initially found. Besides, finding the ”strain Montevideo”
means almost nothing. If they find the “Saintpaul” strain, that doesn’t mean
it is connected to last summer’s outbreak. Third, the article states, “The strain
matches the bacteria that Kraft Foods Inc. had found in products supplied to
the company by Setton.” This is very vague. Is the FDA saying that there
is a PFGE match? Or
just that the strains are the same? And if there is a PFGE match, what does
that mean the likelihood is of the findings being related? Besides, as we
mentioned here,
Kraft told us that it didn’t do the initial testing — that was done by
Georgia Nut Company. So does it match the test results found at Kraft or at
Georgia Nut Company and, when were these tests done? Sebastian Cianci, FDA spokesperson, has
done yeoman’s work in trying to help us clarify these matters. Here is what
we have learned: Q. By matching the strain, does that mean
it is a PFGE match, or is it just the same variety of salmonella? A. It was a PFGE match with two different
enzyme cuts (XbaI and BlnI). It means they are identical. Q. Could you further clarify the timeline
of when, where and on what products the four salmonella strains were
discovered? Were all four salmonella strains found during the Georgia
Nut Company testing of Setton Pistachio’s product in March, or were these
four strains discovered during different testing periods? A. BTN Cashew Almond Pistachio Blend was
the product tested positive for Salmonella Montevideo in March by a
private lab. The private lab’s isolate was confirmed and PFGE patterned by
FDA lab. Among environmental swab samples taken from Setton Farm by FDA
investigator during the inspection in March, three were positive for
Salmonella Montevideo upon FDA lab analysis Q: Did the sample that tested
positive for Salmonella Montevideo come from Kraft's testing or did it
come from the Georgia Nut company's testing? A: Georgia Nut Company had
it tested. [Editor’s note. FDA in its one official
media briefing on the recall said Kraft did the testing, and there
was no mention of Georgia Nut Company’s involvement. However, Kraft, in
an interview that ran in the Pundit on April 3, said Georgia Nut
Company discovered the positive, and subsequently informed Kraft, which then
alerted the FDA of the problem]. The significance of a genetic match is
still a little unclear. Bob Wickert, a molecular microbiologist at the
Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, gave a presentation
on Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and spoke of microbial subtyping
this way: ·A match does NOT mean
the cases are DEFINITELY related ·A non-match does not
mean that the cases are definitely NOT related. ·A match means the cases
are MORE LIKELY to have a common source than if they didn’t match ·A non-match means the
cases are LESS LIKELY to have a common source than if they did match That provides some general clarification
but not really enough specific information to let us know how much weight to
put on this match. We continue to think that there is little,
if any, evidence that the Setton Pistachio plant was worse than the numerous
other plants still processing. We find the interview we did with a prominent
retailer very telling: Setton is a good
company run by good folks. FDA’s behavior is a travesty. It’s the most
offensive investigation. Serious errors are being made. We need to go after
this. FDA can’t be allowed to operate this way, destroying good companies,
taking down entire industries. And if the Setton plant was turning out
product as good as other plants, what is being accomplished by this massive
recall? |
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