The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting in Microbial Risk Assessment (JERMA) convened in response to a Codex Alimentarius Committee request to develop microbiological risk assessment models for Listeria monocytogenes, and to provide recommendations to inform possible future revisions to Codex guidelines on hygienic controls for L. monocytogenes.

The Center for Produce Safety (CPS) has funded 14 new research projects that will help answer the fresh produce industry’s most urgent food safety questions related to leafy greens, stone fruit, pears, foodborne pathogens, indoor farming, and other topics.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will conduct targeted sampling of leafy greens as part of the Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan (LGAP). The agency also provided updates on the progress of LGAP and a summary report of a 2021 sampling assignment.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has summarized its investigations of possible multistate outbreaks caused by Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and Listeria monocytogenes in 2017–2020. 

The food industry recognizes that consumers provide a very 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. 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, including the common misconceptions around the sampling of leafy greens, is the focus of this article. 

Key Technology has introduced its VERYX® digital sorters for fresh-cut, hydroponically grown leafy greens.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will not continue its broad sampling process after imposing it during the 2021 growing season.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) board has recommended new preharvest testing guidance for leafy greens.

The controlled environment agriculture (CEA) Food Safety Coalition recently announced the first-ever food safety certification program specifically for leafy greens grown indoors.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a report on the investigation into the Fall 2020 outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 illnesses, which was linked to the consumption of leafy greens.