July 2021 - 10

Government, industry eye E. coli in leafy greens
By Melanie Epp
VGN Correspondent
Although the U.S. food supply chain
is one of the safest in the world, the
federal government notes there are
still approximately 48 million cases of
foodborne illness each year.
As a result, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has put great
emphasis on improving food safety,
especially in produce like leafy greens.
This emphasis is due, in part, to a
series of E. coli outbreaks that have
sickened consumers and rattled public
trust. Several government initiatives
aim to reduce incidents, and two
equipment manufacturers weigh in on
technological advances designed to
mitigate pathogen load in leafy green
production. Their work is timely.
Sorting it out
E. coli outbreaks in leafy greens
aren't new. In fact, between 2009 and
2018, FDA and CDC identified 40
foodborne outbreaks of Shiga toxinproducing
E. coli (STEC) infections in
the U.S. with a confirmed or suspected
link to leafy greens.
While most E. coli strains are
harmless, STEC has the potential to
cause life-threatening issues, such
as bloody diarrhea, anemia, bloodclotting
problems and kidney failure.
Marianne Knorr-Jansen works in the food laboratory as a food technologist for Sormac.
Photos: Sormac
Much work has been done to prevent
future outbreaks in leafy greens. Under
the FDA Food Safety Modernization
Act (FSMA), the Produce Safety Rule
sets science-based standards that aim
to ensure water, compost, food contact
surfaces and other materials that
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touch produce during growth, harvest,
packing and handling don't cause
contamination. The Produce Safety
Rule also addresses worker hygiene
and possible infection from animals in
nearby fields.
Specifically, the FDA has developed
an action plan that focuses on
prevention, response and addressing
knowledge gaps. Under prevention, the
FDA focused on advancing agricultural
water safety and bolstering inspection,
auditing and certification programs.
To further support prevention
efforts, FDA is testing samples of
romaine lettuce grown in California's
Central Coast, Central Valley,
Imperial Valley and Yuma, Arizona,
for pathogenic E. coli and salmonella.
They also aim to determine which
sampling techniques are most effective
in detecting contaminated product at
harvest.
To improve response activities, FDA
believes it is critical to share lessons
learned in previous outbreaks. As such,
FDA agreed to publish an outbreak
investigation report that included the
trace-back and sampling activities
conducted in the Salinas Valley
growing region of California.
Following three separate E. coli
outbreaks that were linked to leafy
greens in the fall of 2019, FDA,
CDC and state partners launched an
investigation. Authorities traced the
strain (STEC E. coli O157:H7) back
to romaine lettuce, which was further
traced back to the Salinas Valley.
Results of the investigation suggest that
a potential contributing factor was the
proximity of cattle to production fields.
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July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2021
