--- title: Who’s accountable for E. coli in our produce? date: 2006-10-16T11:05:18-07:00 author: Bill Marler canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/whos-accountable-for-e-coli-in-our-produce" section: News --- [All News](/news_events) / [Outbreaks](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/outbreaks) / # Who’s accountable for E. coli in our produce? ![](http://www.ecoliblog.com/PH2009020601454.jpg) Michael R. Taylor, former administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and FDA’s deputy commissioner for policy, told the Baltimore Sun his opinion on who is at fault for the recent [E. coli](http://www.about-ecoli.com/) outbreak tied to tained spinach. Despite repeated calls by the Government Accountability Office and the National Academy of Sciences to modernize the food safety laws and unify the food safety agencies, Congress hasn’t budged, according to Taylor. He continues: > “The deadly form of E. coli that has sickened so many consumers who merely ate spinach or lettuce lives naturally and harmlessly in the gut of cattle – harmlessly, that is, until it is shed into a cow’s manure and enters the food supply. This occurs through contamination of beef during the slaughter process or contamination of fresh fruits and vegetables as a result of manure infecting water supplies, birds picking up the bacteria in one field and depositing it in another, or any one of the many other ways bad bugs spread in the environment. The risk of someone getting sick is determined by such contamination events and by all the things that do or do not happen afterward to increase, reduce or eliminate the bacteria before they reach the dinner plate. For spinach, lettuce and other produce consumed raw, the only sure-fire protection is to prevent the contamination in the first place, and that’s where the system breaks down. > > No one is in charge of leading the research, regulatory and educational initiatives that would be required to discover and implement effective preventive measures, such as vaccines, competitive exclusion agents in animal feed and other innovative tools to prevent infections in animals.” ### Other E. coli Lawsuits [Raw Farms linked to another Raw Milk Cheese E.coli Outbreak - 9 People sickened - Company refuses to recall product](https://marlerclark.com/raw-farms-linked-to-another-raw-milk-cheese-e-coli-outbreak-7-people-sickened) [10 with E. coli linked to Cheese](https://marlerclark.com/3-with-e-coli-linked-to-cheese) [Sycamore Pool in Chico California Contaminated with E.coli - Two teens in ICU](https://marlerclark.com/sycamore-pool-in-chico-california-contaminated-with-e-coli-two-teens-in-icu) [Deadly 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The team at Marler Clark is here to answer all your questions. Find out if you’re eligible for a lawsuit, what questions to ask your doctor, and more. [ Get a free consultation ](https://marlerclark.com/contact) ##### Related Resources ###### [E. coli Food Poisoning](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli/e-coli-food-poisoning) What is E. coli and how does it cause food poisoning? Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a highly studied, common species of bacteria that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, so... ###### [E. coli O157:H7](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli/e-coli-o157h7) E. coli O157:H7 is a foodborne pathogen that causes food poisoning. E. coli O157:H7 is the most commonly identified and the most notorious Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serotype in... ###### [Non-O157 STEC](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli/non-o157-stec) Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli can also cause food poisoning. 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