Restaurants and farms prioritize food safety during nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. —
Nearly 1,700 people have gotten sick from the Cyclospora parasite, including a handful from the Upstate, according to the CDC.
Health officials have not named an official source for the parasite, but they are warning people about buying lettuce and salad greens as they have been historically linked to the outbreaks.
Some restaurants and grocery owners say they have had more customers return produce or order food without lettuce out of caution.
Deborah Bouts, owner of the Sun Belly Cafe, a plant-based and gluten-free restaurant, says she focuses on keeping her kitchen and produce clean to avoid cross-contamination.
“We have no problem saying, ‘Go wash that again’ to ourselves,” Bouts said.
Local farms have also been going the extra mile to clean their greens. Nathan Vannette, owner of Growing Green Family Farms, said his produce, which serves 20 local restaurants, is not grown using pesticides. He warns that overly sterile environments may do more harm than good when it comes to the growth of parasites.
“Having an overly sterile environment has a potential for a pathogen to take over the ecosystem much more readily than an environment that has biodiversity,” Vannette said. “It’ll be much harder for a different type of bacteria or pathogen to come into the environment and spread more readily.”
Vannette recommends people buy locally from a trusted source. He says Growing Green triple-washes its produce before it goes to the consumer. He uses a sanitizing product called SaniDate 5.0, which kills 99.9% of bacteria and potential pathogens.
On the business side, Bouts says businesses should be transparent about where food comes from and how it’s cleaned.
Anyone wanting to make sure a local farm or market is trustworthy can check the South Carolina Agriculture website for certified roadside markets and farms that are held to certain standards of cleanliness.
