By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The handling of one of the most widespread salmonella outbreaks in recent memory has provoked criticism from both national and state leaders toward the nation’s watchdog agency charged with keeping the public informed and safe from such occurrences.

Last week, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer demanded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) speed up its investigation into the outbreak, which has sickened more than 1,200 people nationwide, adding that the agency is “harming farmers whose products are not involved in the outbreak, as it did when it implicated tomatoes in June.”

Farmer added that at least one producer in the state was facing a tough decision because of the handling of the situation.

“There is no evidence that any peppers grown in Kentucky are contaminated,” Farmer said. “The FDA again has issued overly broad advice to consumers that will have severe consequences for growers. We know of one Kentucky farm family that lost a contract to sell jalapeno peppers to a major retailer because of the FDA’s guidance, and now they’re in danger of going out of business, even though they grew their peppers under Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) guidelines and there is nothing connecting their products to this outbreak.”

The GAP program Farmer referred to was started by the University of Kentucky and the state to educate “fruit and vegetable growers and processors on best practices for growing, transporting and handling produce to minimize the risk of food contamination,” according to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Over the past year, 855 state producers have been trained in the principles of the program.

By the end of the week, the FDA had issued a statement saying peppers grown in the U.S. were not at risk; unfortunately, many consumers don’t know where their food originates from, making the case for those recommending locally grown commodities even stronger.

Jeff Dabbelt, manager of the Lexington Farmers’ Market, said with all the different news reports on the situation, customers have asked more questions.

“Our customers seem to be asking more questions after the latest news and it tends to create some confusion in the market,
especially in a market as big and diverse as this one,” he said.
“But, most of our tomatoes are at their peak and customers are more comfortable with the local commodities now. All of this is one more good reason for folks to get to know the people who are growing their food.”

Dabbelt also said far more vendors at the market sell tomatoes than jalapeno peppers and that most of the peppers at the market are grown here.

The jalapeno crop in Kentucky, for the most part, has yet to be harvested, which was the case for tomatoes in early June when that crop took the brunt of the blow from the investigation.

Farmer, who serves as past president of the Southern Assoc. of State Departments of Agriculture (SASDA), addressed the issue last month during the organization’s annual meeting when he said, “We understand that the FDA has a big responsibility, but it is necessary for them to open the lines of communication with the public as well as the states.

“The FDA needs to work with the states to pinpoint the source of the outbreak and eradicate it without unnecessarily harming producers whose products are not affected by the outbreak.”
In Florida, where much of the nation’s tomato crop originates, the estimated loss to its tomato industry is placed at $100 million because of early warnings asking consumers to avoid certain types of tomatoes.