Will today’s food safety initiatives solve tomorrow’s problems?

This interesting article by Craig Carlson asks very relevant questions relating to produce safety and the recent outbreak due to romaine lettuce such as: Why was the E. coli in the water not detected? Testing in the field and water supply is supposed to be part of today’s leafy greens protocol. What is the future plan for water testing? Currently, water testing as part of the FSMA has been delayed. How did the E. coli make it through the plant sanitation processes? Why are some companies still not testing zones 1 for pathogens? The new FSMA is all about seeking and destroying pathogens and includes a free pass for reporting if a pathogen is detected. The produce industry can learn a lot from the meat industry. The 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, where 732 people were infected with E. coli O157:H7, changed the industry. The end result was the deployment of a highly sophisticated food safety system, creating a much safer meat industry today. Overall, the produce food safety system continues to be inadequate, All players are paying the price through negative press, lost sales, product loss, litigation and more. The bottom line is that the produce industry needs to take a more active role in preventing and solving these outbreaks moving forward. @ https://www.thepacker.com/article/will-todays-food-safety-initiatives-solve-tomorrows-problems?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTkdNNFltTXlOalJpTnpWaSIsInQiOiJzS1FiRjFzQno2cHlicFd3SFgrTG9rS20wQ3hYZG1kWUxaQnlqRnZ2YVA3K01EWXBzekhKTk1zTThiZkNFRDJkaWJNSDdjcmZxaUFlVWpGUGhqVENXbkZPeDdOMXpTSXY5YTJwZktmbnowTXg1WG8rNkJrRWxnN01oXC9XTXJZRXQifQ%3D%3D