Latest E.coli Scare Shows Food Safety Needs Improvement From Ground Up

Two fresh-produce recalls in four weeks because of E.coli bacterial contamination and salmonella are prompting consumers to forgo their healthy salad makings yet again — just one year after an E.coli outbreak in fresh spinach caused 5 deaths. The latest scare has touched off more concerns about the country's lack of food-safety defenses. According to articles in The Christian Science Monitor and USA Today, both state and federal health officials are responding, "more forcefully because of lessons learned" in last year's E.coli outbreak. Companies and growers are complying by not only doing more rigorous testing for E.coli and salmonella in fresh leafy greens before they're harvested and washed but they're also testing, for the first time, the finished product before it gets bagged. As we watched mixed greens vanish from salad bars, store shelves and menus this week, we were again reminded of just how vulnerable we are as a consumer to a lacking system of food safety nationwide. State-of-the-art testing and holding procedures for raw produce still warrant federal regulations, as flawed as they sometimes can be. As with any raw product you purchase, there's always a chance that your food safety might be compromised but regulatory action may help thwart more incidence of tainted produce that finds its way to your table.

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