Released: January 26, 2007

Leafy greens growers set food safety standards

Source: Elizabeth Weise, USA Today

Growers, packers and shippers of leafy green vegetables, still reeling from the impact of devastating E. coli outbreaks, moved this week to create voluntary food-safety standards.

But the proposals advanced by the California Farm Bureau and the Western Growers Association, which together represent the majority of leafy-greens growers and packers in the state, are already being criticized by those who doubt that voluntary measures have enough teeth. The standards include frequent testing of irrigation water, strict rules on the use of manure as a fertilizer, and fences to keep wild animals and livestock out of fields.

Steve Lyle of the California Department of Food and Agriculture says the plan is to have the program in place by spring, when harvest season begins for leafy greens: lettuce, escarole, endive, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard. There will be a package seal that participating packers can use to signal that they’ve met the new safety standards.

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