Food contamination scares prompt safety questions for Twin Cities farmers markets
Back-to-back tainted food outbreaks have a lot of people asking what's safe to bring home from the grocery store.
At least 15 states have been hit with the cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce. It has made thousands sick and is connected to two deaths in the U.S.
"People will buy something, whether it's from me or one of the other vendors here down at the farmers market. They come from their farm. You don't have to worry about it," Brian Utecht with Utecht's Farms said.
The growing concern is a boon for businesses, like farmers markets, while sales are wilting for other companies.
"It's scary because, like, the stuff that's healthy for us is not safe for us anymore," a grocery shopper told WCCO.
From jalapeños with Salmonella to berries and lettuce with the cyclospora parasite. The outbreaks have made thousands of people sick and are linked to two deaths.
The cyclospora outbreak may even cause dozens of people to lose their jobs as the largest global greenhouse lettuce company, Revol in Owatonna, Minnesota, may shut down, because of the "challenges affecting the broader leafy greens market," they say.
WCCO went to several farmers markets around the Twin Cities on Friday and didn't find lettuce for sale at any of the sites.
"We have field-grown tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, hot banana peppers, poblano, jalapeños, green peppers and our famous corn," Deb McIntyre with Costa Produce said.
McIntyre says people are coming to Costa Produce for their corn, but also their jalapeños. She says people prefer local and knowing where their peppers come from.
Twenty-seven states have cases of salmonella connected to jalapeños grown in Mexico and sold to restaurant chains like Chipotle and Qdoba. More than 100 of those cases are here in Minnesota.
"The best thing you can do is go talk to the vendor and just ask them questions," Utecht said.
Utecht says people are flooding local farmers markets wanting to know how things are grown so they can feel better about what they buy.
"I would say a lot of it is more and more people want to know where it comes from, and they don't want all the extras," Utecht said. "Some of the extras with the lettuce that is in the grocery store today, 'Oh, am I going to be playing a dangerous game here?' You know what I mean? 'Am I going to be all right for three days?'"
The nonpartisan watchdog group Farm Action says four companies now supply more than half of the fresh-cut salad in the country, explaining why an outbreak can spread so quickly.
