Sprout farm to begin testing for listeria
Close to 15,000 pounds of Chang Farm bean and soy sprouts were recalled from retailers and restaurants in four northeastern states last week after Listeria monocytogenes was found in a bag of sprouts at a retail store.
Speaking for the company, Sidney Chang said,
"We followed FDA guidelines to test for salmonella and E. coli 0517:H7. We don’t test for listeria, because they don’t require that."
So?
It is consumers who ultimately decide which food companies stay in business and make a profit, and consumers demand food that is free of all pathogens.
Is Chang Farm willing to step it up?
As stated in an article by The Packer,
“We want to make sure our facility is safe," Chang said. "We’re going to add more measures. We thought we were doing the right things.”
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/admin/trackback/136418
This is a typical scenario of "compliance to regulation' is not good enough. Food companies shall operate on the principle of "as safe as technologically feasible". To assume absent of Lm in a fresh produce environment because FDA does not require testing reflects the incompetency of this operator.