Last month, the toxic strain of E. coli  that has caused over 100 people to fall sick and 1 fatality across 25 states was linked to romaine lettuce. Other than determining the origin of the strain as Arizona, the specific source of the outbreak has still not been found.

In 2011, a federal law was passed to prevent or immediately shut down these types of outbreaks; however, due to issues regarding compliance costs and training challenges for famers and facility owners, the law may not be fully rolled out and in effect for another few years. Because of this, there are no currently enforced regulations to ensure that fresh produce that is delivered to schools, grocery stores and restaurants undergo inspections.

As the FDA continues to work on implementing current and creating future regulations, according to experts in the food and agriculture industries, it is imperative that new regulations cover traceability methods so that the origin of outbreaks can be rapidly determined.

Source: New York Times