On April 6, 2021, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released two important documents for leafy green operations.
The first is an investigative report on the fall 2020 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses linked to leafy greens’ consumption. In the report, the FDA analyzes outbreaks since 2017 and identifies three key trends leading to the contamination of leafy greens by E. coli O157:H7 in recent years. The full report can be accessed here:
The second document is an updated version of the Leafy Greens Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) Action Plan, building on the work accomplished in 2020. The updated Leafy Greens Action Plan emphasizes actions to prevent contamination from activities on adjacent land, new actions that build on the accomplishments, and learnings from the 2020 plan. The action plan can be found here:
Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan | FDA
In response to the information provided in this report, Western Growers is actively working to provide resources and discussion opportunities to further understanding the information provided by the FDA and develop a coordinated industry response. If you have any comments, questions, or would like to exchange with WG’s Science staff on this topic, please contact us at [email protected].