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Indoor growers say their romaine should have been excluded from the FDA’s temporary blanket ban — although they agree consumer safety should always come first.

Growers, marketers, buyers, researchers and others will be taking a comprehensive look at production practices as part of the new Leafy Greens Food Safety Task Force.

Four more deaths have been reported in connection with the E. coli outbreak linked to Arizona romaine.

Of course, it’s not just consumer groups that are frustrated with the lack of traceback success with the Yuma-E. coli-romaine lettuce connection.

The Food and Drug Administration is urging the produce industry and various organizations studying how E. coli came into contact with romaine grown in Yuma, Ariz., to continue working with the agency on the issue.

Federal agencies are asking romaine lettuce shippers to stop packing and selling their product as a second E. coli outbreak traced to the lettuce is under investigation.

Industry associations have responded to an E. coli outbreak linked to romaine, asking growers and shippers to “make a hard, convincing and clean break” until the outbreak is declared over.

Investigators continue to search for the source of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 172 people in 32 states, but a straightforward solution has not been forthcoming.

The FDA is still working to find answers to the fundamental questions about the outbreak tied to Arizona romaine, more than one month after the initial alert was issued by the CDC.

In the wake of an E. coli outbreak tied to romaine, numerous consumer groups are calling for the FDA to mandate more stringent traceability measures for companies that handle leafy greens and other “high-risk” food.