FDA release 2020 Action Plan for leafy greens safety

In a press release, the Food & Drug Administration announced its 2020 Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan as the FDA works this year to take actions in the “areas of prevention, response and addressing knowledge gaps.” Per the release, “STEC stands for Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, which can cause potentially life-threatening illnesses. The most common STEC, E. coli O157:H7, is most often associated with outbreaks.”

The full action plan is available here.

“Food safety is a shared responsibility that involves food producers, distributors, manufacturers, retailers and regulators,” the release, attributed to Stephen M. Hahn, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs and Frank Yiannas, Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, read. “We’ve previously called on the leafy green industry to do more, and meeting our own responsibility involves collaboration with state partners on education, training and inspections. This plan is designed to help foster a more urgent, collaborative and action-oriented approach.”

Both Hahn and Yiannis are appointees of President Donald Trump.

Key points of the action plan include:

• In terms of prevention, there will be steps taken to implement the Food Safety Modernization Action Produce Safety Rule that established minimum standards for growing, harvest, packing and the holding of product.
• In terms of response, the release states that an investigation report tied to three outbreaks tied to the Salinas Valley in California will be released. Three outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 were tied to lettuce and leafy greens in November and December of last year.
• To limit knowledge gaps, the FDA says new science will be developed to better understand how pathogens survive.

“We have an unwavering commitment to protecting the health of the American public,” the release states. “The 2020 Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan demonstrates how we will honor that commitment. We are laser-focused on improving our prevention, response and research efforts with a multi-faceted approach to help keep leafy greens safe for generations to come.”