As fear grows around the rise of cyclosporiasis cases in the United States, Quebec farmers are feeling the hit.
Demand for lettuce is dropping, leaving farmers with a surplus of product.
“Currently the lettuce that is being sold to our grocery stores and to our retailers is under the price of production, which means that when the grower is selling their lettuce, they’ve lost money,” Catherine Lessard, deputy manager of the Quebec Produce Growers’ Association, told Global News.
Approximately half of lettuce grown in Quebec is exported to the U.S, but stock is not being purchased.
“Americans stopped buying lettuce because, well, they were afraid,” Lessard said.
Some retailers have even stopped putting lettuce on their shelves.
“So all this lettuce, half of the production is staying here, has no market,” Lessard said.
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Some farmers are operating at a loss, selling their product for cheaper, but Lessard said there are fears that some fields will not be harvested.
“Lettuce has to be harvested by hand. So it’s very expensive. It’s about half of the cost of production of lettuce,” she said.
Fears surrounding lettuce began to rise when American authorities linked multiple outbreaks of cyclosporiasis to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms Mexico.
More than 11,000 people in 15 states have fallen ill and two deaths have been connected to the outbreak.
An investigation is underway to determine the root cause, but in the past, contaminated irrigation water has been to blame.
But experts say Canadian-grown produce is safe to eat.
“If it’s grown in Canada, it’s safe and I hope you will eat it,” Lessard said.
Canada also has strict food safety measures to prevent contaminated produce from hitting grocery store shelves.
“Canada is one of the only countries who actually test for cyclospora contamination in the imported fresh products,” Nathalie Grandvaux, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Montreal, told Global News.
She said while cases of cyclosporiasis have increased in Quebec this year, an outbreak like the one seen in the U.S. is nearly impossible.
“Most of them have been linked to people coming back from travelling. So that suggests that the contamination is broad,” Grandvaux said.
There are currently no cyclospora outbreaks being investigated in Canada.
Lessard said many farmers have other crops they can rely on so the true financial toll is not yet known.
“It’s really hard to say what will be the end effect for our growers, we’ll have to see at the end of the season,” she said.
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