Over the course of the past several years, we’ve seen numerous recalls on romaine lettuce and other leafy greens due to foodborne illness outbreaks. These recalls have caused headaches for Certified Food Protection Managers (CFPMs) as they’ve had to pull popular items like Caesar salads off of menus and scramble for replacement greens with every recall. The good news for CFPMs, the romaine lettuce growing industry is adapting and large growing regions in California and Arizona are adopting stricter regulations to prevent contaminated greens from being shipped to restaurants and grocery stores around the country.
CFPMs Benefit FromTougher Romaine Growing Standards
CFPMs should be able to rely on the quality of produce they receive in order to keep their customers safe. When they receive romaine or other greens that are tainted with E.coli, salmonella, listeria or other bacteria, there is often little they can do to prevent this contamination from spreading to their guests. In many cases, even rinsed and cleaned lettuce still contains traces of contaminates that are only killed at high temperatures.
The instability of the safety of the greens for major growing regions has forced CFPMs to reconsider where they source their produce. Some source it from outside California and Arizona, and others rely on indoor hydroponic farms to ensure the safety of their fresh greens. This has put pressure on major growers to adopt new standards to keep their greens safe. Some new rules going into effect in Arizona and California growing regions include:
- Stringent treatment of water sources to remove pathogens
- Enhanced water testing methods
- Rewritten protocols to prevent groundwater from contacting edible parts of plants
- Updated regulations for equipment storage and sanitation
- Outlined practices to prevent the edible portion of greens from contacting soil during harvest
As you can see, the studies that have linked contaminated water and pathogens in Romaine lettuce have led to changes in the testing and treatment of water. Growers are also recognizing the connection between soil contact and contamination and taking steps to prevent contamination through contact with the ground, tools that have touched the soil and other possible contacts that could contaminate lettuce during harvesting.
While there’s very little CFPMs can do with some contaminates, it’s important to be aware of changes in the lettuce growing industry that could make volatile ingredients such as leafy greens safer to consumers.
Do you feel large growers are doing enough to keep the greens they ship safe for consumption?
