b'Can Recalls Become a Thing of the Past?Plant breeders and food safety officers came together to ask: Is breeding for food safety a possibility for the future? Alex Martin amartin@issuesink.comAS SOON AStheres a food recall,Starting the Conversationeveryone knows it. No matter what it is How can we combine plant breeding andtree nuts, meat, pet food or vegetablesfood safety? asked Parag Chitnis, deputythe news spreads like wildfire. director of NIFA. What approaches can Take, for instance, in 2018: the recall ofbe used? NIFA can think about all these romaine lettuce due to an E. coli strandpossible approaches, but we need help contamination. According to the Centersfrom experts.for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),Chitnis said at this conference he was this outbreak lasted from April to latehoping they could come up with innova-June. There was a reported 210 peopletive ideas that could answer these ques-infected across 36 states, with 96 hospital- tions, or spark other ideas in the future.ized, including 27 who developed a typeNow, as most plant breeders know, this of kidney failure called hemolytic uremicisnt an easy question to answer. There are syndrome. On top of that, five recall- so many other focuses while breeding, related deaths were reported in Arkansas,and so many different characteristics for California, Minnesota and New York. different crops. In corn, you want excellentMaeli Melotto is an associate professor at And while consumers thought theyield, disease resistance and uniformity. InUC Davis and organized the conference. recall was over by June 2018, there was yetflowers, you breed for color and vibrancy. another outbreak and recall of romaine,How can we add food safety on top of all red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce andthose characteristics?cauliflower in December 2018. While thereWere not really ready to breed for were significantly less cases reported62food safety, but thats the whole idea, instead of 210it left food safety expertssaid Maeli Melotto, an associate profes-baffled. Isnt there any way that thesesor in the Department of Plant Sciences threats of food safety can be lessened orat UC-Davis and one of the organizers of eliminated so that people can eat theirthe conference. We want to bring people food without fear of getting ill? together from the breeding side and the Well, plant scientists at the Universityfood safety side so we can see what the of California, Davis (UC-Davis), sought tochallenges would be, since this is different find answers to that question.from traditional breeding.Teaming up with the U.S. DepartmentMelottos lab focuses on food safety-of Agriculture (USDA)s National Instituterelated issuesin particular, how human of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), UC-Davispathogens like E. coli and salmonella can hosted a first-of-its-kind workshop entitledlive and survive on plants, such as leafy Breeding Crops for Enhanced Foodgreens like lettuce. Safety, where experts ranging from plantWith my research and research from breeders to food safety officers joinedother groups, we found a genetic basis for together to lend their voices to this discus- these interactionsso thats the link, she sion: Can we breed crops for food safety? said. If you have genetic basis and youMarilyn Warburton works in the USDA-ARS. 44/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2019'