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June 12, 2008
Tomato Salmonella Scare Puts Many Reputations In Crisis
PHOTO: Mark Roh, U.S. Food and Drug Administration's acting regional director, holds a bag of tomatoes being tested Monday for salmonella bacteria at FDA's southwest regional research lab, in Irvine, California. (AP PHOTO).
"Obviously the critical question is, where did these specific tomatoes come from? And we're not quite there yet. At this point today, we don't know where they came from," said David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for foods.
According to A.P., federal health officials haven't yet traced the source of salmonella-tainted tomatoes but, amid an outcry from farmers, are clearing innocent crops as fast as possible.
"We're getting very close" to identifying the outbreak's source, Dr. David Acheson of the Food and Drug Administration told reporters Wednesday.
The outbreak, which has sickened 167 people in 17 states since April, is not over even though it has been two weeks since the last confirmed case of a person falling ill, said Dr. Ian Williams of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's because state and local health departments still are investigating possibly more recent infections.
The FDA has warned consumers against eating certain raw tomatoes: red plum, red Roma or round. Grape and cherry tomatoes or tomatoes still attached to the vine aren't linked to the illnesses.
Also ruled safe are tomatoes from more than 30 states or countries, including part but not all of major producer Florida, where some counties have been cleared but not others. The FDA can rule out as suspects farms and distributors that weren't harvesting or selling when the outbreak began. It is directing consumers to its Web site — http://www.fda.gov — for updated lists of safe regions.
State agriculture commissioners from the Southeast, meeting in Kentucky, blasted the FDA for harming the sale of untainted crops.
"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," Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said.
The FDA vigorously defended its consumer-protection warnings.
"We have gone overboard to try to inform consumers which tomatoes were not part of this outbreak," Acheson said.
It takes a long time to even tell an outbreak has begun, much less solve it. People with food poisoning don't always go to the doctor, or have a stool sample analyzed — and when they do, getting laboratory test results can take two to three weeks. Then health officials must spot a pattern of illness.
Health officials in New Mexico were first to alert the CDC to a brewing problem on May 22. They had a cluster of salmonella cases, including seven of a rare subtype called Salmonella Saintpaul. The next day, New Mexico officials posted to a government database called PulseNet these cases' genetic fingerprint, allowing the CDC to check whether this same strain of Saintpaul was infecting people elsewhere.
It was, in Texas and other states, with the first illness dating back to April 16, Williams said. CDC then began the painstaking questioning of patients to see what they had in common. On May 30, FDA formally joined the investigation, and the next day established a link with tomatoes. Initial consumer warnings were aimed at a few states, until the FDA went national last weekend.
Salmonella sickens about 1.4 million people a year. But outbreaks aren't on the rise, although public attention may make it seem so, Acheson said.
"We don't want to stay quiet and have consumers get sick. The downside of that is consumers say, 'Oh, the system is in crisis,'" he said. "It's not getting worse."
PHOTO: Modesto Ramos inspects the fruit of his tomato greenhouse in Santa Cruz Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, on March 7, 2007, Photo by Adriana Zehbrauskas/Polaris for TIME.
THE REPUTATION DOCTOR SEES MANY REPUTATIONS IN CRISIS IN THE TOMATO SCARE
I have a lot to say about this crisis. First, I wish fresh fruit and vegetables came with a bar code, but they don't. We can't even track our baggage at the airport properly. Imagine the trouble the federal government is having tracking tomatoes. As fruit and vegetables continue their global reach, expect more and more health risks as we eat from worldwide sources of food with disregard for food safety and health concern guidelines similar to the U.S. Are system is not perfect, but it is still the best in the world. As a result, you should be very careful when you travel abroad and grab a tomato, lettuce or piece of fruit from a market external to the United States. Remember when you travel, you are not in Kansas any more!
Fruit and vegetables coming from international markets need to be viewed and eaten with a loud warning.
For example, tomatoes harvested in central Florida remained under investigation, but so are tomatoes grown in Mexico - home to 84% of America's imported tomatoes, according to the FDA. Did you hear me: I said 84 percent of our tomatoes come from Mexico! I predict the salmonella crisis must have a Mexican connection with statistics that high. As a result, the FDA in the U.S., the tomato growers in the U.S. and the Mexican government and tomato industry in Mexico all have reputations in crisis.
The Mexican government is already trying to defend its reputation in the news. Fear is driving the entire situation and fear is a killer of reputations. We are all afraid to eat tomatoes today until we hear the crisis has been averted. And after the crisis is finally over (which I predict will take weeks), we will still be a bit afraid to eat a tomato later this summer.
PHOTO: Salmonella Tomato Crisis
Fast food chains, like McDonald's and Burger King and restaurants everywhere are not serving tomatoes, even though we all know not all tomatoes are bad. They would rather pull tomatoes all together than try to explain why their tomatoes were safer than others. Restaurants also have reputations and they would rather do without than risk their own butts. Can you blame them? This logic follows one of my favorite reputation bricks: when you have to choose between your own good reputation and a reputation in crisis, you choose your own every time!
Look for the origin of the tomato crisis to come within the next few days. The pressure on the FDA to name a source will come loud and hard from vegetable growers and their lobbyists representing their interests. the American public will also continue to apply pressure through fear. As a result, I predict Mexico will be the fall guy, but we should be wise to see we have our own inspection crisis right here at home in the U.S. Farmers, grocery stores and consumers everywhere need a wake up call and the solution includes the building blocks of any excellent reputation: truth, honest, transparency, accountability and consistency. Do you hear that FDA and vegetable growers everywhere? Cutting corners and risking people's lives will put your reputation in crisis. Thank God for the court of public opinion and the media or we all would still be in the dark!
Remember, do the right thing when your reputation is in crisis and seek the counsel of an experienced reputation management expert. It will be a major challenge, but ultimately the rewards of repairing your reputation will be great. Why? Because Your Reputation Is Everything!™
About Mike Paul
Mike Paul is editor of The Reputation Doctor blog. The Reputation Doctor is a nickname given to him by various clients. Mike's blog is located at www.ReputationDoctor.com. He appears regularly on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Court TV (now TruTV), ABC News, ESPN, CBS News, BBC, and others as a weekly contributor and expert in the global news regarding corporations, CEOs, celebrities, athletes, politicians and other public organizations and public individuals with reputations in crisis. Mr. Paul is also president and senior counselor of MGP & Associates PR (www.mgppr.com), a leading strategic public relations and reputation management firm based in New York. For interview requests, speeches, senior counseling or other business opportunities with Mr. Paul, call 212-595-8500 or email info@mgppr.com.
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