United Kingdom and European approach to fresh produce food safety and security

Recent European outbreaks of Salmonella thompson and S. newport have been associated with salad rocket (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa) and head lettuce (Lactuca sativa), respectively. These cases emphasize the need for good agricultural and manufacturing practices for fruit and vegetables that are to be consumed raw, and the potential for large outbreaks related to fresh produce that is distributed widely. In contrast to North America, legislation in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Europe has moved responsibility for fresh produce food safety away from government and into the supply chain. In the U.K. it is the retailers, notably Marks and Spencer with the Field to Fork codes of practice, who are driving the food safety agenda through the development of their own standards. It is retailer technologists who have been the main motivators and educators of suppliers to apply risk management to limiting or preventing microbial contamination of fresh produce.