From: The Cornacopia Institute
June 6, 2011
Contact: Mark Kastel, 608-625-2042
kastel@cornucopia.org
NEWS ADVISORY:
90% Sprout Contamination Conventional, Not Organic (Linked to Factory Farm
Livestock Production)
AP 6-6-11: “In a surprising U-turn, German officials said initial tests
published Monday provided no evidence that sprouts from an organic farm in
northern
Germany were the cause of the country's deadly E. coli outbreak.â€
http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/06/news-advisory-90-sprout-contamination-conventional-not-organic-linked-to-factory-farm-livestock-production/
Quotations attributable to Mark A. Kastel, Codirector and Senior Farm
Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute, a farm policy research group
based in
Cornucopia, Wisconsin:
One of the suspected factors in this tragic outbreak of foodborne illness
(now preliminarily cleared) was sprouted seeds from an organic farm. There's a
history of pathogenic contamination of fresh food, including sprouts.
Correcting statements made over the weekend, the German government stated
on Monday,
June 6 that it has not found conclusive evidence that the deadly E. coli
outbreak can be linked to sprouts from an organic farm.
Regardless of which food turns out to have been contaminated with deadly E.
coli, it is important to remember that the underlying cause of new, highly
toxic
strains of foodborne pathogens seems to be the relatively new practice of
raising beef and dairy cattle in highly concentrated factory farm conditions,
instead of on pasture.
Beef and dairy cows, which are ruminants, evolved to eat grass, not the
high-grain rations that they are given in feedlots, which changes the pH in
their
rumen and has been linked to the creation of new and more deadly E. coli
pathogens. There is nothing inherently dangerous about raw spinach, raw
cucumbers
or raw sprouts, which are dangerous only when they are contaminated with
manure from industrial-style factory farms.
Moreover, studies have shown that organic farms and organic foods are safer
than conventional foods. Not only are they much less likely to be contaminated
with chemical residues, pesticides, and fumigants, they are also not as
likely to be contaminated with manure.
The practice of using manure as fertilizer is common on both conventional
and organic farms, but only organic standards require strict management
practices
regarding its use. For example, organic farmers must compost manure (which
kills deadly bacteria) if it is applied to land growing crops for human
consumption
â€" a practice that is not required on conventional farms.
Recall data from the US Food and Drug Administration shows that there have
been 10 recalls of sprouts in the past 2.5 years (since April 2009), and 9 were
because conventional sprouts tested positive for foodborne pathogens (90%
conventional, 10% organic). Several outbreaks in the US in the past couple of
years have been linked to sprouts, but none were linked directly to organic
sprouts.
A strong common denominator in this deadly outbreak in Europe is the scale
of production and distribution. Just like the spinach contamination in
California,
in 2007, the processing and distribution was vast in geographic scope. It's
quite possible that corporate agribusiness has, worldwide, outgrown its ability
to control the quality of its products.
An outcome of these food contamination problems has led to exponential
growth in the direct marketing of local food by family-scale farmers and
artisan
food processors. There is strong documentary and anecdotal evidence that
sales at member-owned food cooperatives, farmers markets, CSAs (community
supported/subscription
agriculture farms) and other farmer-direct marketing vehicles have exploded
over the past five years.
Consumers are finding assurance in local foods, and are increasingly
patronizing farmers and retailers that sell high quality food on a local basis.
table with 5 columns and 11 rows
Brand Name
Product
Organism
Conventional or Organic
Date
Caldwell Fresh Foods
Alfalfa Sprouts
salmonella
Conventional
5/21/2010
Chang Farm
Bean and Soy Sprouts
Listeria monocytogenes
Conventional
5/28/2009
Chang Farm
Bean and Soy Sprouts
Listeria monocytogenes
Conventional
7/14/2009
Calco Brand
Alfalfa sprouts
Salmonella
Conventional
4/23/2009
Kowalke Family Sprouts
Alfalfa sprouts
Salmonella
Conventional
7/6/2009
Specialty Farms
Alfalfa sprouts
Listeria
Organic
7/23/2010 and 7/29/2010
Snow White Food
Alfalfa sprouts
Salmonella
Conventional
8/19/2010
Living Foods
Alfalfa sprouts
Salmonella
Conventional
10/7/2010
Louie’s
Various sprouts
Salmonella
Conventional
3/30/2011
Jonathans
Alfalfa sprouts
Salmonella
The original recall, based on positive test results, was limited to
conventional. The recall was expanded on to include organic, as a
precaution. (no
organic products tested positive)
4/19/2011 and 4/24/2011
table end
10 recalls –" 9 because conventional sprouts tested positive for contamination.
The Cornucopia Institute, P.O. Box 126 Cornucopia, WI 54827, www.cornucopia.org
