With seemingly increasing frequency, we hear about food products causing illness. Attention is invariably focused on the way the products were sampled and tested, often leading to calls for more testing. However, these calls often neglect the importance of sampling in this process. For the balance of this discussion, we will assume that testing is perfect and focus instead on sampling. The food industry recognizes that consumers provide a high level of fitness-for-purpose testing when they use products. Some shrinkage is, of course, involved in this process, but this consumer sampling will always reach beyond what is possible for a manufacturer to achieve. Instead, manufacturers make a more careful study of samples that are expected to be representative of what is delivered to the consumer. The selection of these samples is the focus of this article.
Leafy greens, particularly Romaine lettuce, have been part of the cycle of illness and more sampling. Although that history is not reviewed here, billions have been served and hundreds were potentially sickened. The prevalence of pathogens is low. However, this low level is not acceptable in the marketplace, and the fresh-cut produce industry has and continues to work toward mitigating the pathogen hazards that lead to consumer risk.