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Every year, there are many thousands of pounds of fresh leafy greens, such as lettuce and spinach, grown in the United States and eaten by the public with no consequent illness. Outbreaks, however, such as the recent Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 outbreak linked to raw spinach, do occur, and there is a need to do everything possible to minimize the likelihood of further outbreaks and to prevent serious illness. The Food and Drug Administration has taken a number of actions in recent years, in partnership with other government agencies, to improve the safety of fresh leafy greens and is working on additional steps. From farm to table, everyone, including growers, processors, distributors, retailers and consumers, and government, has a responsibility to ensure food safety.
The FDA believes there is a need to examine and improve certain agricultural practices to minimize the risk of E. coli O157:H7 contamination of leafy greens. The FDA and the State of California launched the Lettuce Safety Initiative in August 2006 to minimize such risk and to create greater awareness by industry of the FDA's commitment to food safety and concern about the safety of lettuce. This initiative has since been broadened to include spinach and other leafy greens.
The initiative has a number of key objectives, including assessing current industry approaches and stimulating new efforts to improve lettuce safety; identifying industry practices that potentially lead to product contamination and developing policy or guidance and identifying research to minimize future outbreaks; taking targeted regulatory action using a risk-based approach toward areas most likely to be the source of contamination; and alerting consumers early and responding rapidly in the event of an outbreak.
The FDA, the State of California, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continue to investigate the cause of the spinach outbreak. This investigation includes continued inspections and sample collection in facilities, the environment, and water, as well as studies of animal management, water use, and the environment.
According to the FDA, all spinach implicated in the September 2006 outbreak has traced back to Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista, Calif. This determination is based on epidemiological and laboratory evidence obtained by multiple states and coordinated by the CDC. Natural Selection Foods issued a recall of all implicated products on Sept. 15, 2006. Four other companies have issued secondary recalls because they received the recalled product from Natural Selections.
The FDA and the State of California have previously expressed serious concern with the continuing outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of fresh and fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy greens.
The FDA will be holding a public meeting to address the larger issue of foodborne illness linked to leafy greens once the current investigation is complete.
Consumers are advised that proper storage of fresh produce can affect both quality and safety. To maintain quality of fresh produce, certain perishable fresh fruits and vegetables (like strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms) can be best maintained by storing in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40 degrees F or below. All produce that is purchased pre-cut or peeled should be refrigerated to maintain both quality and safety.
Processed spinach (e.g., frozen and canned spinach) was not implicated in the September 2006 outbreak.
FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition