Richard Ha writes:

Lettuce has been in the news, of course, since some of a mainland grower’s produce was recently recalled due to possible E. coli contamination.

Let me tell you what we do at Hamakua Springs to make sure that doesn’t happen here:

First of all, the E. coli bacteria is primarily associated with cattle operations and contaminated irrigation water, as well as field sanitation. There are no cattle operations that compromise our irrigation water. In addition, we regularly check the water we use for E. coli. We have not once tested positive since we started our hydroponic operations.

We also sanitize the water our plants grow in with chlorine, and we sanitize the beds themselves with chlorine after each crop.

Our vegetable crops are grown indoors. This eliminates the possibility of water splashing contaminated soils onto the lettuce, and means our lettuces are never in danger of contamination by flooding. And soon after harvest the lettuces are placed in cold temperatures, which slow down bacterial action.

We don’t use manures or compost when growing our lettuce; instead, we use sterile media.

Our people are instructed in proper hygiene. Anyone with a communicable illness is not allowed to work with the vegetables. They always wear gloves when handling the lettuce.

So go ahead and eat your Hamakua Springs lettuce. You can make yourself and your family a big, healthy Hamakua Springs salad—Chef’s Select baby lettuce maybe, with slices of crisp, crunchy Japanese cucumber and some Hamakua Sweets tomatoes—and eat it in full confidence that we’re on top of things over here.