At Edge on Thursday. Standing amidst shelves filled with cabbages and carrots and tomatoes and lettuce, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Edge of the Woods founder Peter Dodge warned that foodborne illness outbreaks don’t just affect those who get sick. They also hurt all grocery stores by u ndermining shoppers’ confidence in food safety. DeLauro and Dodge delivered that message Thursday morning during a press conference held in the produce section of the Edge of the Woods grocery store at 379 Whalley Ave. DeLauro convened the presser to decry a “summer of outbreaks” and recalls — affecting products ranging from Jalapeno peppers to iceberg lettuce to raw cheddar cheese to eggs. She said that there are currently 47 foodborne illness investigations taking place across the country. Shoppers everywhere are asking themselves, “Can I trust the food on the shelf?” DeLauro said. She pointed to Trump administration cuts to inspection programs and other food-safety efforts at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as exacerbating these problems. She said that the federal government has cut roughly 3,500 jobs from the FDA alone. “You can’t do more with less,” DeLauro said. “We need to keep food safe.” DeLauro said that, if Democrats regain control of the House of Representative after this year’s midterm elections, she plans to try to regain her past role as chair of the House Appropriations Committee. She pledged to prioritize “restor[ing] the capacity” that the CDC had “for being able to address these issues.” Same goes for the FDA. A strong and stable “inspection regime gives people confidence,” she said. Dodge offered a similar perspective when responding to a question about how if at all Edge has been affected by all of these recent outbreaks and recalls. “It hasn’t affected us per se, but then the customers don’t feel the food is safe and so they then hold back,” Dodge said. “When the lettuce outbreak happened, our lettuce sales went in half. This really affected us at some level. We haven’t had direct problems, but indirectly we’re affected.” What would he say to customers who ask if they can trust the safety of the food on Edge’s shelves? “I’d say, ‘Yes,'” Dodge replied. “I go to market five days a week. I try to pick out stuff I think is good. Local farmers bring things in on a regular basis. I trust those people. I can’t guarantee anything, [but] we try to buy fresh, good stuff.” Before closing out the presser, DeLauro picked up on Dodge’s point about consumer confidence, or lack thereof, in grocery stores amid all of these outbreaks. “When people are reading about Cyclospora, they’re not gonna buy lettuce. They’re not gonna take a chance. It puts Peter and Edge at risk, and he is relying on the work that’s being done with these agencies.” These food-inspection and safety agencies are public health agencies, she stressed. “We need to have the standards maintained and the ability, above all, to prevent [and] not have to act once it happened. … That gives peace of mind to Peter. That gives peace of mind to the customers.” DeLauro staffer and former city police spokesperson David Hartman amongst the veggies. The post At Edge, DeLauro Decries “Summer Of Outbreaks” appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less