Food safety | Food recalls | FDA announces targeted leafy green sampling in the Salinas Valley

food-recalls
September 14, 2022

Food safety is a scientific approach or field that describes how to handle, and prepare. And store food in a way that reduces the risk of contracting a foodborne illness.

The Salinas Valley region of California will see a targeted sampling of leafy greens grown on farms and ranches during the fall 2022 harvest season, as well as the release of results from a sample assignment from 2021 and an update on additional work being done in accordance with the action plan.

By continuing to implement the Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan. The FDA hopes to increase the safety of leafy greens (LGAP).

The FDA intends to gather roughly 240 lettuce samples from farms and ranches in the Salinas Valley during the autumn 2022 harvest season. In recent years, traceback investigations revealed these farms and ranches as potentially connected to outbreaks of foodborne illness where lettuce or leafy greens were the likely or suspected food source. Depending on the circumstances, the FDA may also take environmental samples including water, soil, and spit. This will depend on the sampling results and the FDA’s prior inspections of the farm or ranch in question. Sampling will start in the middle of September and continue through the end of October. All samples will be examined for Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7.

2021 Fiscal Year Assignment Summary Report | Food safety

The FDA carried out a different leafy greens sampling assignment in 2021. And it is now publishing a summary report of the findings. Between May and November of 2021, the agency collected lettuce from commercial coolers in the Salinas Valley farming region of California. As part of this assignment and examined samples for Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7. The report details the agency’s discovery of STEC in two additional samples. As well as Salmonella enterica in one sample of green leaves. Potentially tainted merchandise was always destroyed, and additional checks were carried out.

About the Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan | Food recalls

According to the FDA, persistent outbreaks and worries about leafy greens contamination highlight the need for unwavering vigilance about prevention throughout the food chain. Through the Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan. The FDA has worked to increase the safety of leafy greens over the past two years (LGAP).

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