E. coli outbreak: CDC says romaine lettuce from California’s Salinas Valley shouldn’t be eaten
Do not eat or sell romaine lettuce harvested from the Salinas growing region.
That is the urgent message to consumers, restaurants and retailers released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after a multi-state outbreak of E. coli linked to lettuce grown in the region.
“Based on new information, CDC is advising that consumers not eat and retailers not sell any romaine lettuce harvested from the Salinas, California growing region,” the CDC’s Food Safety Alert reads. “This advice includes all types of romaine lettuce harvested from Salinas, California.”
No deaths have been reported, but the outbreak has so far sickened 40 people including 28 who were hospitalized in 16 states from Maryland to California, to Wisconsin where 10 people were infected, according to the CDC’s alert. Four cases have been reported to date in California.
The CDC’s warning a week before the Thanksgiving holiday hits at the heart of the Central Coast region known as the “Salad Bowl of the World,” for its lettuce and other vegetable crops. The federal agency is investigating the outbreak with state and local health officials.
The strain of E. coli O157:H7 is the same one tied to leafy greens that infected 25 people in 2017 and to romaine lettuce in a wider outbreak in November 2018 that sickened 62 people in 16 states and the District of Columbia, according to the CDC.
The 2018 outbreak - one year ago this week on Nov. 20, 2018 - was traced to romaine crops grown outside the Salinas Valley, but delivered a blow to Monterey County’s agricultural industry nonetheless. The outbreaks were largely to blame for the industry’s $160 million loss last year, the Salinas Californian reported.
Bill Marler is a Seattle-based food safety lawyer who for decades has taken on the industry after E. coli outbreaks from ground beef and frozen hamburger patties to apple juice to spinach and other leafy greens. Marler said federal regulators and growers must confront the larger issues contributing to the outbreaks.
“It is past time for the leafy green industry to take the safety of greens, especially romaine lettuce, seriously. The FDA must require, and the industry must implement, better environmental controls and more rigorous testing of products. There have been too many outbreaks leaving hundreds of consumers with life-long complications,” Marler said. “This strain is genetically linked to two other (outbreaks). This is a fundamental environmental problem you can’t ignore. This will be a challenge for the industry in a really big way.”
The Centers for Disease Control are telling consumers, retailers and restaurateurs to watch for the Salinas name on any romaine product from whole heads to hearts of romaine and pre-cut salad mixes that contain romaine.
For shoppers, the CDC warned. “if the packaging has “Salinas” on the label in any form (whether alone or with the name of another location), don’t buy it. If it isn’t labeled with a growing region, don’t buy it.”
The same goes for markets, restaurants, suppliers and distributors: if it carries the “Salinas” name, don’t buy, it, sell it, serve it or ship it.
The federal agency, investigating the outbreak with state and local health officials, put the brakes on romaine sales after a series of reports beginning in September. The cases were reported from late September to Nov. 10, the outbreak striking young and old alike. The youngest stricken was 3 years old, the eldest, 89; but the median age is 22. Nearly two in three — 64 percent — are female.
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 4:55 PM with the headline "E. coli outbreak: CDC says romaine lettuce from California’s Salinas Valley shouldn’t be eaten."
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