The Arizona LGMA (Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement) is entering its upcoming growing season with improved food safety practices in light of the E. coli outbreak earlier this year associated with romaine. The updated Food Safety Metrics include: more rigorous risk assessments to address intense weather conditions; additional measures for the production of leafy greens near concentrated animal feeding operations; more prescriptive requirements for the cleaning and sanitizing of harvest equipment;, and stronger traceback requirements. These changes are required of all AZ LGMA members and will be verified during the upcoming season beginning in November 2018.
The updated Metrics align with recommendations of the Leafy Greens Food Safety Task Force and follow two months of examination of all the farm conditions and practices. Although reports from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and Center for Disease Control and Prevention provided some insight, the Task Force invested thousands of hours conducting additional investigative research to address all scenarios that may have led to the E.coli outbreak.
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