CT Congresswoman Takes on Salad Giant after Listeria Outbreak

NORTH BRANFORD, CT - Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd), building on the United States Justice Department's criminal investigation, is calling for the immediate shut down of the Springfield, OH-based Dole plant linked to a deadly outbreak of Listeria.

DeLauro wrote to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week to demand that the agency close the plant, from which some of its salad products have been linked to killing four people and sickening dozens more. She notes that in addition "to executives continuing to distribute contaminated salads despite knowing about the presence of Listeria, the plant has had numerous other public health violations" in which consumers were endangered.

“Given that consumers have been severely sickened, and even killed, by salads produced at this facility, I urge you to immediately shut down the Dole Springfield plant," DeLauro wrote. "Their blatant disregard for the health and safety of American families shows that Dole executives put company profits first, at the expense of consumers, and this type of behavior should not be tolerated.”

DeLauro is a senior member on the subcommittee responsible for funding the FDA, which is overseeing the investigation of Dole. She also wants to know why it took the FDA and theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention so long to identify the source of the Listeria outbreak.

Late last month, the Justice Department launched its probe of the plant and company, which reportedly may have known about Listeria contamination for more than a year. The company said in a statement that it was cooperating with the federal investigation.

But for DeLauro, that's not enough.

“The fact that Dole officials were aware of a food borne illness contamination in their facility, yet continued to ship out the product, is absolutely unconscionable. People have died, and rightfully the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Dole’s Springfield plant,” wrote DeLauro. “However, it is more than just food borne pathogens that the FDA inspection reports point to. FDA reports dating back to March 2014 cite at least sixteen problems that could contribute to food safety issues in the facility.”

She added, “It is an outrage that people had to die in order for Dole to temporarily close this plant for four months during the January Listeria outbreak. I urge you to immediately shut down Dole’s Springfield facility in order to put a stop to future outbreaks from this facility. Dole must be held accountable.”

She said the 16 issues listed in the FDA reports include:

• Failure to provide adequate screening or other protection against pests
• Failure to maintain food contact surfaces to protect food from contamination by any source
• Gaps in building maintenance such as peeling paint and rust, and cracks and holes in the floors