The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working with produce operators to help them understand new temporary measures for U.S. romaine lettuce.
From Oct. 7, to Dec. 31, importers of romaine lettuce from the Salinas Valley in California will need to provide a certificate of analysis from an accredited laboratory confirming that romaine lettuce as well as mixed salads containing romaine have below-detectable levels of E. coli O157:H7.
“The CFIA has engaged and collaborated with industry to help businesses better understand the new temporary measures and prepare for implementation,” according to a CFIA spokesman. “The CFIA is also providing flexibility by allowing testing to be done once product has entered into Canada. In that case, the imported product is placed on hold while undergoing testing, and cannot be released for sale unless the results come back negative for E. coli O157:H7.”
The CFIA is in regular communication with the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as they continue their work into understanding how environmental pathogens, including E.coli, can contaminate produce, according to the spokesman.
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics from 2019, romaine lettuce shipments from California’s Salinas Valley were strong from April through October, but then declined sharply in November as production moved to California and Arizona desert growing regions.
In 2019, shipments of romaine lettuce from California’s central growing region declined from 14% of total annual production in October to 5% in November and virtually nothing in December.
Romaine lettuce from the U.S. has been the cause of several outbreaks of foodborne E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Canada and the U.S. in previous years.
Food safety plan
The Canadian agency will require importers to either prove that romaine is not from four counties in the Salinas Valley (Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey), or provide an official certificate of analysis from an accredited laboratory confirming that the lettuce has below-detectable levels of E. coli.
The program is an addition to food safety measures in the Safe Food for Canadians regulations.
The agency reported that more than 50,000 shipments of romaine lettuce or salad mixes containing romaine were imported into Canada from June 2019 to July 2020.
The Canadian Produce Marketing Association said in an Oct. 2 e-mail that the regulation will be costly.
“CPMA recognizes that there are still significant issues for many members along the supply chain. Current estimations place the anticipated loss to Canadian importers at a minimum of $11 million per week,” the association said. “CPMA will continue to work with both industry and government to endeavor to mitigate this impact as much as possible; our goal is to avoid a similar situation as we all move forward.”
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