Wegmans and Listeria: Developing a Proactive Food Safety System for Produce

In July 2014, supermarket chain Wegmans received notification from supplier Wawona Packing Co. that its peaches arrived in Australia with a small trace of Listeria monocytogenes. While some countries such as Australia allowed low-levels of listeria to be present in certain produce, the U.S. had a zero-tolerance policy, and Wawona issued a voluntary recall of its peaches in the U.S. CEO Danny Wegman considered how Wegmans could become more proactive in food safety and what preventative action could be taken in the future. He considered what rules and regulations should be put into place domestically. What role should Wegmans and the food industry play in this approach?