New national survey taken up by Food Policy Institute, Rutgers University reports about plummeting consumption of green produce, which it claims to be the impact of a broad recall of E. Coli contaminated spinach, lettuce and broccoli.
Facts provided claim that the delay in pointing out of the source of E. Coli bacteria and the misrepresentation of reports related to contaminated greens lead many consumers to throw out all their bagged produce. Statistics from FreshLook Marketing showed a 17 percent drop in sales of bulk and bagged spinach in 17,000 grocery stores across the US in 2006 as compared to a year ago.
Not ignoring the fact that it took time for the USDA to give a ready verdict on the source of contaminated greens, what made sales worse for the grocery store owners is the series of E. Coli contamination of bagged greens and salads.
The negligence of USDA in protecting healthy vegetables from the contaminated arena has already made a negative impact on the minds of consumers with regards to the consumption of green produce. Therefore, the federal cover to restore consumption of greens will work little, until federal regulations bind strictly the standards of production, distribution and storage.
