Tainted Lettuce Yet Another Reason to Pass Food Safety Modernization Act

I'm constantly amazed by how many food products wind up with E. coli contamination every year. I mean really, how is animal manure consistently present in packaged foods like lettuce, steak, poultry, and even cookie dough? Shouldn't proper cleaning and inspection ensure that the foods consumers regularly purchase are poo-free?

The latest E.coli outbreak involves romaine lettuce. Last week, Ohio-based Freshway Foods recalled romaine sold in 23 states because of suspected E.coli contamination. And this week, one Oklahoma- and one Massachusetts-based food distributor also recalled its romaine due to the same E.Coli problem. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently investigating the situation to determine at what point in the supply chain the contamination occurred. To make matters worse, the tainted romaine was served up in middle and high schools and colleges, sickening students in Michigan, Ohio and New York. All-in-all, 19 students contracted the unusual strain of E.coli, with another 10 cases currently being evaluated by the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Which brings me to my earlier conundrum: How does contamination like this keep happening? The romaine in this case was sold to restaurants and food service enterprises, meaning it most assuredly came from a large food processing plant. It's hard to believe that a large operation with capable resources is completely incapable of properly cleaning and examining its lettuces.

The recent romaine contamination is yet another reason the federal government needs to pass the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which would give the FDA the power to better monitor and regulate food safety. With 76 million cases of foodborne illness diagnosed in America every year, there's no better time to get this piece of legislation moving. Push your senator to pass the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act by signing Change.org's petition.

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