date:Jan 06, 2013
According to Food Safety News, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has shut down the Microbiological Data Program (MDP), which used to conduct 80% of all federal produce testing for pathogens like Salmonella and Listeria.
The $4.5 million program had been in shutdown mode since mid-November. State agriculture departments, which tested samples of leafy greens, melons, tomatoes, and peppers for the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) program, were told to wrap up their sampling and submit their data.