Search for peanut salmonella origin highlights microbial side of farming practices

Investigators are speculating that the salmonella in the Georgia peanut plant whose products have killed and sickened people across the U.S. may have come in on raw peanuts from the region’s farms.  

This puts peanut-farming practices under the food-safety microscope for a problem that hasn’t been a problem for these farmers until now. It will bring questions about what kinds of things could put a peanut crop at risk for salmonella infection.

The intense desire to detect pathogens and protect consumers—especially young ones, from the First Daughters to kids in every community across the country—is putting peanut farmers into the spotlight who are used to being anonymous.

In fairness to these producers, salmonella hasn’t been a recognized risk factor that they had to contend with. For nut quality and safety reasons, they already work hard at getting peanuts dried and out of the field to prevent mold and contamination. They are zealous to guard against aflatoxin, a mycotoxin from fungus that’s worse in dry, hot conditions. But salmonella—that’s not something that has been on the radar.

Now it is, and now the wisdom of building healthy systems seems more important than ever. Organic (just a handful of pioneers, for now) and non-organic growers have to collaborate to make sure their confidence in their product is justified, given this outbreak.

Their pro-active work can perhaps enable them to avoid some of the Draconian anti-biodiversity measures taken after the E. coli spinach debacle in California. The Wild Farm Alliance has done good work examining a false search for food safety by de-naturalizing how food is grown.

Taking a lead in documenting the wholesomeness of their crops is essential, however, in this time of hyper-concern. Farmers can’t afford to do otherwise in the eyes of a vigilant public.

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution article
comes this counsel to farmers:

Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, said he recently got a call from a peanut-industry adviser in Georgia. “The bottom line I got from him: The farmers feel the processor is at fault and should process the salmonella out of the peanuts,” Doyle said. “They’re looking at the peanut as a commodity, rather than a food.”

 

For organic growers, above-market quality is key to value in all their crops. This crisis and its vast media attention show that for any growers producing what people will eat—whether it’s fresh or processed, local or distant—basic food safety has to be part of the foundation, now more than ever. ~ Greg Bowman