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

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.