When Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on November 15, 2006, he reiterated FDA’s commitment to improving the safety of fresh produce.

According to Brackett, FDA is still investigating the significant E. coli outbreak caused by contaminated spinach in September 2006. The FDA and the State of California advised the produce industry “to develop a plan to minimize the risk of another outbreak in all leafy greens, including lettuce, “