FDA Hears Ways to Improve Produce safety

摘要

The food-borne illness outbreak associated with contaminated spinach last fall heightened safety interest throughout the entire produce industry. The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) recent hearings on produce safety highlighted the need to share information and to consider possible measures to enhance the safety of fresh produce. Unpublished data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that from 1996 to 2006 there were 72 reported outbreaks associated with 20 fresh produce commodities. Of this total, 12 related to tomatoes, 11 to melons and 24 with leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach. Significantly, the CDC noted that these outbreaks increased both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of all reported food-borne outbreaks. These involved a number of pathogens, including Escherichia coli (E. coli) 0157:H7 and Salmonella species, in both domestic and imported produce.