U.S. food not affected by European E. coli

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. government officials said Friday they do not believe an E. coli outbreak that has sickened almost 1,800 people in Europe has affected the U.S. food supply.

The disease control and prevention public health agency of Germany has not yet identified the definitive source of the infectious agent causing the E. coli outbreak, but has recommended those in Germany to avoid raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce.

Dara Corrigan, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said the United States receives relatively little fresh produce from the European Union, particularly at this time of year, because of the short shelf life of most fresh produce.

Nonetheless, the FDA has established certain additional import controls and the FDA is currently conducting increased surveillance of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and raw salads from areas of concern, Corrigan said.

"The FDA will not allow any products found to be contaminated to enter the U.S., and, if contamination is found, will flag future shipments for appropriate action," Corrigan said in a statement. "As more information about the source of the outbreak emerges, we will adjust our public health protection efforts, especially those at the border, accordingly."

Donald Kraemer, deputy director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said food growers, manufacturers and distributors are responsible for marketing safe food and taking necessary steps to ensure that their products are indeed safe.

"The FDA has provided guidance to the produce industry on ways to minimize the risk of E. coli, and these methods will reduce the risk of the strain of E. coli causing the European outbreak as well as the more common strains," Kraemer said.