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There are no mandatory food-inspection tests for vegetables. With 20 E. coli outbreaks in the last 10 years, some think it's time to overhaul the FDA’s vegetable procedures in the same way that USDA meat inspection became more stringent after E. coli outbreaks in the 1990s. (photo by REUTERS)
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS FEED
byKATE WINSTON
E. coli hit the news last summer, but odds are that we will be hearing about it again soon. The government agencies that oversee food do not have any required system to prevent an E. coli outbreak from happening again, and a quarter of the bad strains cannot be found with the most common tests. Agricultural businesses spend millions lobbying Congress, and in California, the industry is writing its own rules.
The Observer reports on whether the spinach will be safe this season.
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The American Observer is produced by the American University