FDA's salmonella probe likened to 'Keystone Kops'

WASHINGTON — The government bungled the salmonella outbreak probe so badly, a House committee chairman said Thursday, that federal investigators reminded him of Keystone Kops. A colleague hoped the maligned tomato can get its good name back.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee conducted its own investigation of the Food and Drug Administration's investigation of the salmonella scare. The outbreak has sickened more than 1,300 people this summer and set off a consumer scare that cost the produce industry more than $200 million.

One agency probably zeroed in on tomatoes too early, the committee concluded, while a second failed to tap industry and states' expertise in trying to trace the source of the contamination.

To the chairman, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the case reminded him of "a Keystone Kops situation." An investigation that should have taken hours or days instead has stretched on for weeks and months, he said.

Federal investigators are now focused on hot peppers from Mexico — jalapenos and serranos. They still suspect that tainted tomatoes were involved at first, but they may never be able to prove it.

Holding up a bright red tomato, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., declared: "We want their good name back."

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA, which share responsibility for handling outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, found themselves on the defensive at the hearing.

Several lawmakers said the fact that no single agency is in charge may be part of the problem. The CDC is responsible for identifying the pathogen and the type of food that has been contaminated; the FDA is supposed to trace the outbreak to its source.

The FDA's food safety chief, Dr. David Acheson, said the agency plans to convene a panel of advisers to review the salmonella investigation. A faster system for tracing suspect produce might have allowed the FDA to clear tomatoes more rapidly, he said. While many major companies can trace their suppliers within hours, most smaller growers and shippers still rely on paper records.

The system "is what it is, and it worked," Acheson said. "It was just slow."

Lonnie King, head of the CDC's center for foodborne illnesses, said that his agency's statistical analysis of detailed interviews with people who got sick found a very strong link to tomatoes.