New Guidelines Should Help Prevent E. coli Outbreaks
Tanimura & Antle Inc., one of California’s largest produce companies, is implementing new guidelines that should help prevent contamination of crops with E. coli bacteria. These guidelines are company guidelines—not industry-wide guidelines—and include major changes that all produce companies should implement:
- crop setback distances
- crop procedures in flood-prone areas (lettuce and spinach are both grown in flood-prone areas where E. coli and other pathogens can migrate from the soil to the plant)
- the use of certified compost (compost can contain cow and other animal manure, which can be contaminated with E. coli if it has not aged long enough to kill the bacteria)
- additional water-quality testing
- pre-planting ranch assessments (this and the crop setback distances requirement would probably have prevented the Taco Bell and Taco John’s E. coli outbreaks)
E. coli contamination of lettuce, spinach and other fresh produce is preventable. Tanimura & Antle, Inc. has taken some long-overdue steps toward making fresh produce safe to eat.
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