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Cyclospora outbreak highlights value of collaboration and rapid response training
A Michigan food safety official says lessons learned from the multistate Cyclosporiasis outbreak will likely shape future food safety protocols.
Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development Retail Food Program Manager Emily Hollingsworth tells Brownfield, “Frankly, an outbreak of this magnitude, we’re going to be talking about this for years to come.”
Hollingsworth says interagency data sharing, along with new requirements for farmers and processors under the FDA Food Traceability Rule in the Food Safety Modernization Act, are helping to speed up foodborne illness emergency response.
“It requires them to keep information on lock codes and have labeling related to distribution and what fields things may have come from, and that previously was not required for a whole lot of produce,” she explains.
More than 30 states have reported cyclospora cases, including more than 5,000 in Michigan.
In a statement, California-based Taylor Farms says it is voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico based on information provided by the FDA.
How did this protozoa contaminate lettuce?
Since this particular specice of cyclospora is only known to live in humans, was human feces used as a source of fertilizer on the fields where contaminared lettuce came from?
I think the public should be informed on those specific farming practices where and how the microbes were introduced.