The Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, The Pew Charitable Trusts and five other organizations pressed the FDA in a letter to take action in light of the still unsolved multistate outbreak of E. coli infections linked to romaine lettuce that has sickened more than 170 people and caused one death.
The groups urged the FDA to implement long overdue provisions of the 2011 FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), which require the agency to establish recordkeeping requirements for high-risk foods to improve its ability to quickly trace the source of foodborne illness and initiate swift recalls. In addition, the groups urged the FDA to enhance communications with the produce and leafy greens industry to ensure full compliance with existing requirements and encourage the adoption of voluntary measures to improve traceability.