Over a decade or two, FE has reported the repeated and repeated E. coli O157:H7/STEC (Shiga toxin-producing E. coli) infections in leafy greens, especially in lettuce and spinach from the Salinas area of California, and last year from Yuma, Arizona. Most recently FE (Feb. 2020) cited New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s efforts in introducing a bill to allow FDA to take on-premises environmental samples on USDA farms, and FE covered the issue of produce farms being located adjacent to CAFOs as former FDA Deputy Commissioner Michael Taylor (FE, July 2019) described at last year’s Food Safety Summit.
To combat recurring food safety issues, the agency has come up with a plan for 2020, called the “2020 Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan.” The document outlines a set of preventive, responsive and evaluative measures to promote the microbiological safety of leafy greens.