So how much damage can a few rotten tomatoes really do? The tomato-linked salmonella outbreak announced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 3 has claimed 228 victims in 23 states over 58 days (and counting). It has put 25 people in the hospital and may have had a role in hastening the death of a cancer patient. And then there’s the flurry of panic as many of the tomatoes that American consumers take for granted every day suddenly disappear — from McDonald’s hamburgers; from the salsa at Chipotle Mexican Grill; from Burger King, Taco Bell and Sonic; and from the grocery shelves at Kroger, Wal-Mart and Target. Didn’t we just go through this with bagged spinach? With peanut butter? With pet food?
Because the FDA’s tomato-recall recommendation is so specific — including only three types, grown in certain regions during a certain time — and because many national chains pulled their tomato stock within days of the announcement, most of the infected samples have likely been removed. But the outbreak remains ongoing; its source has not yet been determined, and the government is investigating new cases every day. It may be a few more weeks before the delicious staple fruit is given the all-clear.
Taking tomatoes off shelves and menus may contain the outbreak, but it doesn’t explain it. On May 22, the New Mexico Health Department notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it knew of seven people recently infected with Salmonella Saintpaul, an unusual strand of the bacteria that accounted for only 400 of the 1.4 million cases of salmonella infection reported last year. And it was precisely because occurrences of the Saintpaul strand are so rare that the report caught the CDC’s attention. When Texas and a few other states reported cases of people being infected by bacteria with the same “genetic fingerprint,” a multistate search for Salmonella Saintpaul was launched. While the CDC tracked reported illnesses, the FDA interviewed victims to find out what they had eaten (and where). The common answer was tomatoes.
There have been 13 outbreaks of salmonella in tomatoes since 1990, which puts the fruit on the list of high-risk foods that are prone to infection. But unlike the bagged spinach from the 2006 E. Coli scare, the tomatoes don’t come with a traceable bar code. “When you’re dealing with tomatoes, it is much, much more complex,” explains Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s associate commissioner for foods. The FDA’s great tomato hunt has an ever-expanding list of suspects. A salmonella victim can point to the supermarket (or restaurant) that sold the offending fruit, but that store probably sources its tomatoes from several suppliers, each of which uses several distributors — and distributors buy from any number of growers.
“Each set of questions just multiplies into a fan of information that has to be sorted through to understand where the links cross over,” says Acheson. Although the FDA has managed to rule out some regions — northern Florida is safe because its tomatoes weren’t ready for harvest at the time of the outbreak — it will be some time until the true source is found. “We’re not quite there yet,” says Acheson, “but we’re getting very close.” But Dr. Ian Williams, chief of the CDC’s OutbreakNet team, warns that the source may never be found due to the fruit’s short shelf life. “You don’t expect to find an infected tomato sitting on someone’s counter 10 days after the outbreak,” says Williams.
Still, the lag time between the initial outbreak and the government’s reaction is startling: the first Salmonella Saintpaul victim fell ill on April 16, but the FDA didn’t announce the tomato link until June 3. Williams says part of the problem identifying salmonella outbreaks is that a lot of victims don’t see the symptoms — diarrhea, fever, vomiting — as sufficiently severe to warrant a visit to the doctor, and so they go undiagnosed. “There may be a delay in reporting outbreaks because people do not have a stool specimen tested,” he says. Officials have not yet identified an infected tomato, and because of the fruit’s short shelf life, they probably never will.
The FDA unveiled a tomato-safety initiative in 2007 that sought to identify causes of salmonella infection, but Acheson admits that studying preventive techniques doesn’t help the FDA deal with outbreaks. The FDA has no plans to change the initiative in the face of the recent outbreak.
Even if the FDA can pinpoint the source of the outbreak, it’s hard for consumers to know where their tomatoes are grown. Certain imported foods are required to carry country-of-origin labels, but that doesn’t apply to domestic produce. “I’m not aware of any tomato outbreak that was not domestic,” says Acheson. There is no such thing as a mandatory state-of-origin label for food, and federal authorities have yet to create such a law. “Saying ‘product of the U.S.’ isn’t necessarily going to confer safety,” he says. So much for reassurance.
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[…] Keith Jeppson discusses problems with his Meth lab in Who’s METHing With Your Home? I kinda skipped over this one. Not sure if having a Meth lab is a good idea Keith. […]
[…] St. Louis Real Estate re-occupancy permit program - more revenue. - The 64 dollar question is, will buyers use this report instead of a building inspection by a qualified ASHI inspector? That could be dangerous, I don’t think you can sue the government for negligence! And what are the qualifications of the county inspectors? » original newsWho’s METHing with your Home? - Should unsuspecting home buyers be told their home was previously a METH lab? The state of Utah doesn’t think so. » original newsWho Are You? A Glimpse into the Many Personalities of Real Estate Bloggers - Everyone (yes, even you!) has a “writing style” which automatically assigns you to a specific personality type (or character, if you will). I’m going to outline these characters for you, so you can see what type of blogger you are. This can actually help you realize who you’re targeting, and if you might need to adjust your blog-itude. Plus, its fun to read, and serves as a good distraction from your “real” work. I had fun researching this project, because as I was naming the characters, I began associating some of the people here in the RSS Pieces office with these personality types. » original newsUtah Real Estate - Fraud Alert - The Utah division of Real Estate warns agents to protect their license and career. They should be warning the public not just the real estate professionals. » original newsMcMansions…Do You Want Fries With That? - While not fitting the true description of McMansions, these homes are springing up all over the previously agricultural Miami Redland. » original news […]
Following is a comment from a reader on AR where I posted this as well. I’ve added it here for those local readers who may miss it on ActiveRain. The text is unedited.
“I live in California where I purchased a home at the end of last year and just recently the neighbors told me there had been a meth lab on the property (luckily not in the house-but still a nightmare). AB 1078-effective 2006 requires that sellers disclose to buyers if there was a meth lab on the property.
The measly $5,000 fine is nothing compared to what clean-up costs might be ($5,000-150,000) nor the stress and strain I will have to go through to get the seller to pay for testing and clean-up. Nor does this include the loss of property value for owning what will now forever be known as a “former meth house”, cleaned up or not. Nor does this include over payment of property taxes because property would have sold for much less if the meth lab had been disclosed.
The new law also states that any meth lab houses discovered from 2006 forward will have a lien put on them and that info will go to the title company so a new buyer can make an informed choice when purchasing a home or property.
Unfortunately if the bust/discovery was prior to 2006 the county/state have provided no easy means for a buyer to discover if a meth lab was previously on the property, IF a buyer/renter even knows to look.
For some unkown reason my new address did NOT bring up the two meth lab databases it is on using a google search, even though almost every other address on the list does… I had googled my address BEFORE I signed my purchase agreement and nothing came up…I wasn’t looking for a meth lab as I didn’t even think of that possibility, I was buying my house from a grandma….
This law also does nothing to protect renters that may move into a house that was a former meth lab. I live in a college town and students are frequently moving in and out. If a student develops health issues down the road how will they ever know what may have been a trigger.
It also does nothing to protect visitors to the home. Just because a person buys a former meth lab does he/she have a right to subject friends/family/visitors to the chemical residue that is/was left behind? What if the new owner wants to run a day care or elder care business? What they don’t know CAN hurt them.
Most of the legislation that I have been reading from my state and from other states includes little to NOTHING about possible soil contamination. Where did the “cook” dump the waste products? Will new owners/renters want to plant a garden, will their children play in the dirt, will new construction take place that stirs up the soil, will the contaminates move around and poison other areas of their yard, will they contaminate the water table or a well, will their animals eat grass or other things that may have taken up the toxins? Did I mention that my dog has had diarrhea twice in the last month? I have also read police reports where dogs have had seizures at the same location of meth lab busts. Did they pour the waste into a septic or city sewer? Will those pipes fail in short order?
Another issue is people/realtors that buy houses that are in foreclosure. I am learning that if a person buys a foreclosed house they are buying “as is” and so they can claim they didn’t know there was a meth lab, and of course they cannot possibly tell a buyer.
There needs to be something that forces EVERY buyer/seller of a house to have a method of checking so they cannot claim lack of knowledge down the road.
I also have learned that clean-up companies are quick to take someone’s money, but that testing one square foot on each wall is not an adequate method of finding any “hot spots” from residue.
Thousands of dollars can be spent for testing, but their method is sort of like looking for a needle in a haystack. So getting a “certificate” from one of these companies can have little to no value.
I have learned that a can of spray starch sprayed on a wall will turn violet when it reacts with iodine IF the “red phosphorus” method was used. So this may be a cheaper method of determining where the “hot spots” are.
Having a copy of the arrest report which has location/amount/types of chemicals found is a great start, but here in California they are claiming that is “confidential information”. I am still waiting, one month later for the info so I can give it to a cleaning company so we know what/where to look for residual contamination.
If the meth lab was in an apartment that shares heating/cooling ducting with other units what was/will be done to make sure other units are not affected?I think that any building/area that has had a known meth lab needs to be branded with a large letter “M” with a sheet of info posted on the hazards of residual contamination.
If Public Health Departments really cared about people’s health and not about financial costs they would do everything in their power to make sure people made INFORMED decisions and since the Public Health departments usually are informed about meth labs it is THEIR DUTY to provide this information to the public.
Buyers/renters deserve the right to CHOOSE as they are the ones that will ultimately pay the price with their health and we all know that medical bills for future respitory ailments or cancers can far exceed most costs of clean-up.
06/10/2007 by Distraught undisclosed meth lab property buyer in CA
Following is another comment left on our METH post on ActiveRain (http://activerain.com/blogsview/116953/Who-s-METHing-with). I’ve included it here with permission from “Distraught in CA”. I’ve only edited for format to make it easier to read.
“I hope my paragraph breakes work!
I want to thank you for taking the initiative in dealing with this very complex issue. It is good to see someone looking out for their clients and not just trying to sell any house that comes along as long as there is a commission made on the sale.
The $5,000 is the fine to the sellers for not disclosing that a meth lab was on the property which is part of the new law AB 1078.
I am just beginning my nightmare and am doing a lot of research to make that any testing and/or cleaning is done in the most accurate and thorough way.
Here is a link to California legislation, but as I commented in my earlier post I found out the hard way that the law still has way too many loopholes and relying on the honesty of a seller who may have meth a meth cook is questionable at best. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/05-06/bill/asm/ab_1051-1100/ab_1078_bill_20051006_chaptered.html
On the site above select Session 2005/2006 and Assembly and 1078 for the bill number http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html http://www.dre.ca.gov/disclosures.htm#_Toc122939757[p]State of California Department of Real Estate Disclosures inReal PropertyTransactions Sixth Edition[br]2005
New legislation effective January 1, 2006, requires local health officers to make an assessment of a property after receiving notification from a law enforcement agency of potential contamination or of known or suspected contamination by a methamphetamine laboratory activity. If the property is determined to be contaminated, an order prohibiting its use or habitation shall be issued. Until the property owner receives a notice from a local health officer that the property identified in an order requires no further action, the property owner shall notify the prospective buyer in writing of the order, and provide the prospective buyer with a copy of the order. The prospective buyer shall acknowledge, in writing, the receipt of a copy of the order.[p](Cal. Health & Safety § 25400.10 et. seq.)
Here are some other good sites: http://www.valleymeth.com/[br]A Madness Called Meth- CALIFORNIA’S SOCIAL, MEDICAL & ENVIRONMENTAL NIGHTMARE http://www.pca.state.mn.us/cleanup/meth.html Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs and Wastes in Minnesota snip10. Methamphetamine Contamination MPCA sampled former clandestine meth labs to characterize meth deposition and penetration of meth into building materials and to provide baseline data for cleaning and sealing studies. MPCA found wipe sampling of meth contaminated materials to be problematic because sampling results from different building materials are difficult to compare. For example, different adjacent building materials (e.g., raw wood studs, cement block, metal, and latex painted sheetrock) sample differently and yield different concentrations of meth when wipe sampled. This creates difficulties in interpreting wipe sample data to determine pre- and post-cleaning effectiveness. Despite these negative aspects, wipe sampling is still often used to determine remediation adequacy.[p]The adopted “cleanup standard” of 1 microgram per square foot (µg/ft2 ) is not a health-based or risk-based value; that is, levels of meth above or below 1 µg/ft2 cannot be said to be either a “dangerous” or “safe” level of human exposure to meth. Much work remains in the area of health risk assessment regarding “safe” exposure levels to residual meth and other possible contaminants in former meth labs. Because of this and the difficulties of interpreting sampling results, the MDH Guidance “relies on a remediation process rather than achievement of a number …” (from MDH Guidance Section D, “Meth Risk Decisions,” p. 11).
The MDH Guidance provides bulleted actions to perform the remediation process, including removing and disposing of materials that cannot be cleaned (e.g., carpeting, ceiling tile and wallpaper), then double washing plus rinsing all surfaces and then sealing with two coats of paint or polyurethane. Minnesota case studies of former meth labs have shown that cleaning and sealing will greatly reduce human exposure to meth; yet, after the remediation process, a sampler using the Guidance’s sampling procedure for methanol-dampened wipes (see MDH Guidance, Appendix C1) sent to a certified analytical lab will almost always find low level meth residue. Because remediation effectiveness cannot be demonstrated reliably by wipe sampling, pre- and post-remediation sampling for meth is not required by MDH’s Guidance if the remediation process is followed (see MDH Guidance, p.12).
To emphasize, the structure that is thoroughly cleaned and sealed according to the MDH Guidance will have a low level of meth residual available for wipe sampling on some surfaces. Studies have shown that meth will remain, sealed into the building material beneath the paint or polyurethane; this sealed meth is not likely available to subsequent residents. Studies of the long-term stability of meth sealed into structural materials are still necessary.
Despite the problems inherent in wipe sampling for meth, sampling may be required in some cases. Careful planning of sampling locations, choice of building materials to be sampled, and interpretation of results is necessary (see, MDH Guidance, Appendix C4). For further understanding, see the links below for the studies that are the bases of these recommendations. http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070515/NEWS01/705150407/-1/CINCI[p] Local news Cincinnati.Com » The Enquirer » Local news » Former meth lab unfit home[br]Last Updated: 1:59 pm |
Tuesday, May 15, 2007[br]Former meth lab unfit home[br]BY PEGGY O’FARRELL | POFARRELL@ENQUIRER.COM The little house they rented on Lawrenceburg Road in January seemed perfect, with a big back yard for the kids and their toys, and a garden.[p]”I had always heard my grandma telling stories about the farm she grew up on,” Wilson said. “It sounded perfect.” She even thought about getting a chicken or two so the family could have fresh eggs.[p]That ended when neighbors told them a former tenant cooked methamphetamine in the house. The illegal drug is made from a toxic stew of chemicals.[p]Now all three of Wilson’s children are sick after just a few months in the house. Wilson is seven months pregnant and worried about what problems her unborn baby might face.[p]rest of story at link[p]http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660198239,00.html[p]
Deseret News Sunday, February 25, 2007 How toxic is ‘toxic’? Cleaning up residences contaminated by meth is fraught with flaws Firms that do the cleanup under scrutinyBy Dennis Romboy and Lucinda Dillon Kinkead[br]Deseret Morning News[p]The issue seems simple: Methamphetamine residue is bad, although health consequences are ambiguous, and people shouldn’t live where remnants of the drug are present.[p] But a variety of parties have an interest in this issue — and millions of dollars are at stake.[p] Homeowners and renters obviously care about their safety. Local health departments must close down housing that is contaminated. Landlords have to pay thousands of dollars to clean it all up.[p] And importantly, someone must test the carpet, the walls and the air ducts for meth residue.[p]snip[p]Research by the Deseret Morning News shows the system for detecting houses “contaminated” by meth is flawed at best and, in the worst cases, fraudulent.[p]snip[p]Reid and his colleagues acknowledge troubling factors in the meth testing process.[p] “If one decontamination specialist tests in one area, and another takes the same test six inches away, results might be totally different,” Reid said.[p]snip[p]Samples are typically taken by swiping a cloth saturated in isopropyl alcohol or methanol on a wall, counter or air duct. The outcome could change depending on how hard the tester presses, whether the surface was recently cleaned, what type of alcohol is used or the location of the swipe.[p] “The sampling process is such that if you sample at one place, move over a foot and sample again, you could have a different result,” Weinheimer said. “There are a lot of variables that influence that.”[p] Meth tests are becoming common practice for people in the market for a new place to live.
06/10/2007 by
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I hope someone will fix my post and insert the paragraph breaks as needed. I also apologize for any spelling/grammar errors…and yes, you can repost my posts anywhere they will be helpful. I have been a total basket case since I first learned about the former meth lab on my property and if I can help just one other person from going through what I am just starting to go through I will be happy. A person’s home is supposed to be a place of peace and harmony, not lawsuits and/or hazmat suits. Thanks again for looking into this highly toxic issue.
06/10/2007 by Distraught in CA”
Distraught in CA,
Thanks for the links to the CA legislation and all your research from other markets.
Wow, $5,000 is the limit the CA legislation provides for damages from sellers who do not disclose a known METH house? That’s pathetic! But at least CA is requiring disclosure.
As a protection to RE agents and their clients. I’d suggest at a minimum a search of state provided lists be made on every listing and a disclosure from each seller regarding any known METH history on the property. It’s not much but it is a start.
From there we must get involved in local and state legislation to add legal protection to buyers.
Distraught in CA, please keep us updated here on your case.
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[…] Currently the cost of cleanup is on the owner of the property when the contamination is discovered. In an earlier post Who’s Mething with Your Home? We proposed some questions the Salt Lake City Council should consider as it considers a new city ordinance to assist home buyers and renters from the physical and financial damages they suffer when purchasing or renting a home contaminated by Meth. It seems one of the alternatives being considered is to hold Realtors accountable for “Accurate” disclosure of METH activities in a home their clients may be selling or buying. […]
[…] Who’s Mething with Your Home? […]
Glad to see someone else bringing this subject to light. I have started a website (www.methlabhomes.wordpress.com) about the subject of meth lab homes, because my son unknowingly bought one in TN in 2004. However, his story is the story of thousands of people across the U.S. And I truly feel that it is a problem that needs to be addressed at a federal level.
A ton of money is being poured in by the federal government to pay for drug prevention programs and advertising. More money is being given to police departments to combat the meth problem. Both of which are good things to do. But, what about the innocent victims who bought a former meth lab without knowing it? The government says “clean it up” but offers no help, financial or otherwise. What’s up with that? That’s wrong. It’s just wrong.
I invite everyone to visit my site and / or email me at methlabhomes@gmail.com, if you have a meth lab home story that you’d like me to post on my site. I am also looking for any information that may help my son and his family, which includes two young boys under the age of 5. You can read his complete story on the site.
Thank you and God bless
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[…] Michael Rowzee, a certified Meth decontamination expert is going to speak at the Bonneville Hills Community Council meeting Thursday, October 25th. If you have any interest in sifting through all the hype and hyperbole going on in the press about Meth then come to the presentation. In addition to being licensed to decontaminate meth labs Mike is certified as an instructor for Meth home inspectors and city and county health departments. […]
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