Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Director Francis E. Greene is being honored by the national Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as part of its annual Civilian Honor Awards acknowledging “outstanding collaborative efforts to support self-regulation of the foods, cosmetics, and OTC drugs industries and to ensure that consumers receive accurate and truthful information about health benefits.”
As director of the Department’s Food and Standards Division, Greene was instrumental in managing the environmental portion of a potential outbreak of Listeria in Connecticut and the Northeast in April 2009. Based on a sample of sprouts that tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems, Greene was part of a collaborative effort among the FDA, his staff, the State Public Health Department and the Bridgeport, Connecticut producer to immediately recall 22 sprout products, notify all distributors, retailers, public health officials and consumers of the recall, remove products from store shelves, and identify the source of the Listeria contamination. At the time of the recall, the sprouts were being sold in small stores and three major grocery store chains across the Northeast.
“Frank’s action and collaborative efforts clearly helped to minimize the risk of illness in any number of consumers who would have eaten those tainted sprouts,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. said today. “We’re delighted that he has been chosen for this well-deserved national recognition.”
Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms from Listeria, such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, the infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
A ten-year veteran of the Department of Consumer Protection, Greene was nominated for the 2010 Leveraging / Collaborative Honor Award by the FDA New England District Office. He lives in Thomaston with his wife and children.
