May 30, 2018

Groups form leafy greens food safety task force

Arizona and California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements, the Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Produce Association, Western Growers and other stakeholders in the produce industry have formed the Leafy Greens Food Safety Task Force  to assess and address issues associated with recent foodborne illness outbreaks attributed to consumption of leafy greens and to prevent such an incident from occurring in the future.

“Like many of you, we have questions about how romaine lettuce came to be the source of this recent outbreak,” the task force wrote. “As families, farmers, and scientists who grow the food served at your tables and our own, we need to make sure that leafy greens are safe.”

California and Arizona produce over 50 billion servings of leafy greens every year to American consumers and the groups involved said the purpose of the task force is to sharpen food safety systems through the entire supply chain.

 Leafy Greens Food Safety Task Force 

Task force membership will include representatives of:

  • Growers from Arizona, California and other production regions
  • Shippers and processors from Arizona, California and other production regions
  • Produce industry and related trade associations
  • State and local government agencies
  • Scientists and researchers
  • Consumer advocacy groups
  • The buyer community

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control will be involved on a collaborative basis, serving as technical and informational advisors to the task force.

 

 





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