CDC: No Romaine Lettuce Safe To Eat

by YWN

Romaine lettuce is unsafe to eat in any form, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a broad alert in response to a new outbreak of illnesses caused by a particularly dangerous type of E. coli contamination.

According to the CDC, 32 people have become ill from a strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in 11 states from Oct. 8 through Oct. 31. Thirteen of those people were hospitalized, including one who suffered kidney failure. In addition, at least 18 people in Canada have been infected with E. coli in Ontario and Quebec.

All of those cases have been linked to romaine lettuce, and the CDC said consumers should not eat any romaine lettuce of any kind, as “no common grower, supplier, distributor, or brand of romaine lettuce has been identified.”

The CDC told consumers to throw away any romaine lettuce they may already have purchased. Restaurants should not serve it, stores should not sell it, and people should not buy it, no matter where or when the lettuce was grown. It doesn’t matter if it is chopped, whole head or part of a mix. All romaine should be avoided.

“This advice includes all types or uses of romaine lettuce, such as whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes that contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad,” the CDC said. “If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away.”

The agency also advised consumers to wash and sanitize drawers and shelves where the lettuce was stored. People usually become sick within three or four days of consuming lettuce contaminated with the E. coli, according to the CDC.

The strain identified is different than the one linked to romaine earlier this year that killed 5 people and sickened nearly 200 across 36 states, but it appears similar to one linked to leafy greens last year.

17 Comments

    • Milhouse

      Don’t be silly, this will be over long before Pesach. Soon they’ll narrow down which supplier, brand, or growing location is affected, and we’ll only have to avoid that. Then they’ll narrow it down further to the specific batches, and everything else will be OK.

      BTW, Bodek says they’ve tested their produce and it’s OK despite the CDC warning. So if you trust them יאכלו ענוים וישבעו.

  • DeClasse' Intellectual

    I am in the food safety business and this is no small matter.
    It is believed that this outbreak is worse then the one that occurred during Pesach season which killed at least five people. In the spring, they found the source, but not now.
    This is no ands or buts-get rid of the stuff that comes in an form and cleanout the shelves and containers that came in contact with t he Romanine as per article.with sanitizer

    • Simcha

      I looked at the reports there has not been any reported cases in 3 weeks! Why the CDC works up now … some of the people sick did not eat romain!! You can look all this up on the CDC website. There is a bigger chance of you winning the lotto than getting e coli! Millions of lb consumed daily and nothing for 3 weeks

  • Grain of Salt

    The CDC has its own agenda. I take with a grain of salt everything the CDC says.

    • Milhouse

      Take it with all the salt you like (so long as you are not genetically sensitive to sodium), just don’t take it with lettuce.

    • Milhouse

      That’s a very good question. I’d say there’s almost no chance that the people who got sick ate Postiv’s product, so there’s no reason to suppose there’s anything wrong with it. Postiv grows its own product, and processes it all in-house, so it’s not affected by whatever is happening elsewhere. Still, before eating it I’d wait for a statement from the company, or call them for one.

  • DeClasse' Intellectual

    #1) There are other items that can be used instead like baby bok choi, belgium endive. to me Romanie lettece is band ecch and I advoid it
    # 4) ehst psrt of thre words “all types” do you not understand==even poision can have a Hechsher Until further notice, all types is off limits and you know it is bad when they tell you to sanitize your fig and containers that had had the romanine
    #5 Looking for an unwanted illness for the rest of your life–take a chance and eat romanine

  • Market place

    I called up the market place and they said that whatever they sold today is good.
    Does that make sense?