Government inaction over salad is an opportunity for private sector

The governments of the United States and California, producer of about 3/4 of the nation's greens, have not acted in reforming inspections in light of the recent E. coli and salmonella outbreaks. This gives an opportunity for the private sector to step in.

A private company can establish their own inspection routines and can contract out to producers. Those who follow their strict guidelines would be given rights to use their seal of approval. Customers then would be able to choose either to go with the companies who use the third-party inspections, knowing that the food has been inspected thoroughly, or can trust the FDA inspections at their own choice. This would allow the market to determine if consumers want to pay the extra for food which has been inspected more of if they're happy with the existing FDA inspections.

Regulators wrestle over how to ensure safe salad
CNN

SALINAS, California -- Government regulators did not act on calls for stepped-up inspections of leafy greens after last year's deadly E. coli spinach outbreak, leaving the safety of America's salads to a patchwork of largely unenforceable rules and the industry itself, an Associated Press investigation has found.

The regulations governing farms in the central California region known as the nation's "Salad Bowl" remain much as they were when bacteria from a cattle ranch infected spinach that killed three people and sicked more than 200.

AP's review of data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act found that federal officials inspect companies growing and processing salad greens an average of once every 3.9 years. Some proposals in Congress would require such inspections at least four times a year.

In California, which grows three-quarters of the nation's greens, processors created a new inspection system with voluntary guidelines. The system did not detect bagged spinach tainted with salmonella that reached grocery shelves last month.

Despite widespread calls for spot-testing of processing plants handling leafy greens after last year's E. coli outbreak, California public health inspectors have not been given the authority to conduct such tests, so none have been done, the AP review found.