A TASTE OF SUPPORT : HEALTH OFFICIALS, LAWMAKERS EAT STATE BERRIES, TOUT SAFETY.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services Worried that a second health scare in as many years will wreak havoc on California strawberry growers, state officials offered repeated assurances Thursday that the Golden State crop is safe. Over and over, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman Ann Margaret Veneman (born June 29, 1949) is currently the Executive Director of UNICEF. She was the first woman and first Californian to become the United States Secretary of Agriculture. , Health and Welfare Secretary Sandra Smoley and lawmakers from strawberry-growing districts told a Capitol news conference that the state's $552 million-a-year crop is safe. ``These strawberries from California are absolutely safe to eat,'' said Veneman, standing at a podium surrounded by more than 70 flats of berries. At the end of the news conference, all of the lawmakers and officials joined in eating the berries. The leftovers, Veneman said, were to be donated to Sacramento-area homeless shelters and food banks. California produces about 1 billion pounds of strawberries a year, some 80 percent of the nation's crop. Recent reports of hepatitis A Hepatitis A Definition Hepatitis A is an inflammation of the liver caused by a virus, the hepatitis A virus (HAV). It varies in severity, running an acute course, generally starting within two to six weeks after contact with the virus, and lasting no illness in Michigan, linked to frozen strawberries from Mexico processed in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , have caused some concern about California berries as well. But Veneman and Smoley say no health problems of any kind have been linked to the California crop. The scare - which growers said Wednesday had already begun to cost them some sales - follows fears last year that California strawberries were tainted taint v. taint·ed, taint·ing, taints v.tr. 1. To affect with or as if with a disease. 2. To affect with decay or putrefaction; spoil. See Synonyms at contaminate. 3. with cyclospora, an intestinal parasite Intestinal parasites are parasites that populate the gastro-intestinal tract. In humans, they are often spread by poor hygiene related to feces, contact with animals, or poorly cooked food containing parasites. . Eventually, the cyclospora outbreak was traced to Guatemalan raspberries, but not before California strawberry producers saw sales declines of as much as 50 percent. Veneman said the industry had definitely suffered a hit this year, but said she had no hard numbers on the extent of the loss. She put last year's losses due to the cyclospora scare at $20 million to $40 million. As a result of the hepatitis scare, Ralphs Grocery Company canceled all its berry orders from Baja Mexico Wednesday, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. supermarket officials. Ralphs buys 30 percent of its strawberries from Baja, according to Terry O'Neil, a supermarket spokesman. But now the chain plans to only carry California grown berries. ``Although they don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. for sure where the strawberries were contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. we don't want to take any chances,'' O'Neil said. ``We're just being proactive and want to be on the safe side.'' Despite news accounts of the possibly bad berries, O'Neil says Ralphs strawberry sales are up. Before news broke of the hepatitis scare, Ralphs had a special on baskets of strawberries for 59 cents and business has been booming, he said. Doug Hendrix, spokesman for Vons, said that sales have not been affected by the recent news of hepatitis A contamination. ``Every indication we have is the fresh cut strawberries we have on sale are entirely safe,'' he said. He said that the store does sell Mexican grown strawberries, but the proportion of the total for sale diminishes as the season progresses.``Sales have remained strong,'' he said. All of the state officials and lawmakers involved said the Sacramento news conference was their idea, and not requested by growers or industry officials. State health officials said an investigation continues into the source of the hepatitis A contamination. It is not yet known whether the imported berries were contaminated at the source, or during or after processing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also investigating possible violations of the federal law which prohibits the sale of imported foods to school meal programs. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (Color) Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, state Sen. Jim Costa James Manuel "Jim" Costa (born April 13 1952) is a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of California. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in November 2004 to represent the 20th Congressional District of California. and Assemblyman Mike Machado eat California strawberries at a Capitol news conference Thursday. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. |
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