"Dateline NBC," an hour-long program that averages about 8 million viewers per show, will feature a segment on Salinas Valley growers and what the agricultural industry is doing to prevent another E. coli outbreak.
Lea Thompson, chief consumer correspondent NBC News and "Dateline" producer Jack Cloherty talked to Salinas-area growers for the segment.
The program follows a September E. Coli outbreak in Minnesota that sickened 12 people, including three who were hospitalized. The case has been linked to salads packaged by Dole Fresh Vegetables in Salinas, although the exact source of contamination has not been determined.
More than 245,000 bags of affected Dole products were recalled nationwide.
According to food research firm NPD FoodWorld, about 23 percent of all salads in the United States today are made from bagged lettuce. Pre-cut salads reached $4 billion in U.S. sales last year, according to the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association of Alexandria, Va.