Colorado lawmakers urged to fill gaps in food system, trace recall origins better
A Colorado nonprofit is demanding change after a summer consumed by a cyclospora outbreak from contaminated lettuce and dirty jalapeños that caused 118 cases of salmonella.
"We should be able to assume that food that's being grown in our country and being put on our dinner plates and store shelves are safe. And unfortunately, this summer just continues to emphasize that we're not there yet," Danny Katz, executive director of the Colorado Public Interest Group, or CoPIRG, told CBS Colorado.
Katz said it's "absurd" there isn't more regulation when it comes to Americans' food, pointing to this summer as an example. There have been nine different foods connected to foodborne illness: broccoli sprouts, eggs, jalapeños and moringa capsules that could cause salmonella; alfalfa sprouts, frozen blueberries and raw dairy that could be infected with E. coli; ricotta cheese with listeria; and contaminated powdered infant formula that could cause botulism. And Katz said this is just what we know.
"There are at least eight foodborne illness outbreaks that haven't even been connected to food, and that really speaks to why we need action," he said.
Katz said the Food Traceability Final Rule could make a big difference. According to the FDA, it would establish traceability recordkeeping requirements, beyond what is already regulated. Companies would share their data for the manufacturing, processing, packing and holding of their product. The ruling was supposed to go into effect in January of this year, but the FDA extended the start date to July of 2028. This has Katz on a mission to urge lawmakers in Washington to implement it now.
In July of last year, the Trump administration altered its data collection on foodborne diseases. According to the CDC, the Disease Active Surveillance Network, or FoodNet, has been reporting infections on eight pathogens, including listeria, salmonella, and E. coli. It has been doing so for three decades, but made the data collection optional for all of those except Salmonella. FoodNet said it changed its requirements because the "landscape has changed since collaboration began in 1995." Adding, "FoodNet's active surveillance activities were not designed to detect outbreaks of foodborne illness."
It doesn't end there for Katz.
"It's a great time for the state of Colorado to pause and go, 'Are we funding the laboratories in a way that we can make sure we're testing as many items as we need to? Do we have our inspectors going to the Colorado farms where it's appropriate to make sure that we're keeping people safe?'"
He continued, "Can we fill some of these gaps that are unfortunately being left by our federal government?"
Katz underscored prevention and for Coloradans to be aware of recalls across the country. He told CBS Colorado that since experts don't always know the origin of a contamination or some people don't report symptoms, diseases could be closer than we think.
CoPIRG has recommendations on its website. If you have access to farmers markets and community gardens, tracking food will be simpler. If you have access to grocery stores, ask for the company's protocol if there is a recall.
Many Coloradans spent the last few months changing their diets, avoiding produce in fear of tainted food, as nearly 20,000 people across the country were sick after a historic cyclospora outbreak that came from contaminated lettuce. Katz highlighted, "I think these foodborne illnesses are an example of a larger problem in our food safety system."
