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An epidemic of Escherichia coli in romaine lettuce, which led to a nationwide elimination of leafy vegetables just days before Thanksgiving was linked to a growing California region. Officials said companies would begin voluntarily labeling the Roman in order to help identify the source of future outbreaks.
According to the FDA, the outbreak "seems to be linked to" late season "lettuce from the central and northern central California producing regions. He said that consumers still should not eat romaine lettuce grown in this region, but that lettuce from other regions is OK.
"At the time of the outbreak, the vast majority of the Roman market was grown in the Central Coast region of California. Since then, the harvest of Romaine lettuce in this region has been completed for a year, "said the FDA.
In the United States, romaine lettuce production has shifted to winter growing areas, mainly the desert areas of California and Arizona and Florida, but also to Mexico and others. States, the FDA announced.
Health officials said it was acceptable to eat romaine lettuce grown outside of the California Central Coast culture region..
Source: Shutterstock.com
He stated that there was no recommendation for consumers or retailers to avoid eating or serving romaine lettuce harvested outside of the relevant California crop region.
"At the present time, the FDA has no information suggesting that these growing areas are involved in the current outbreak, which began well before the romaine lettuce from these growing sites. winter is not available for harvest. In addition, Roman hydroponic lettuce and romaine lettuce grown in greenhouses are also marketed in the United States, but there is no evidence that these products are involved in an outbreak of E. coli. Coli O157: H7 identified, "said the agency.
The outbreak of Shiga toxins producing E. coli O157: H7 sickened 43 people in 12 US states and hospitalized 16, health officials said. Twenty-two other patients have been identified in Canada.
When the outbreak was announced on November 20, the CDC advised consumers to discard any type of romaine lettuce and told retailers and restaurants to stop selling or serving it. The FDA has requested the removal of all Roman dairy lettuces on the market, claiming that a "clean break" was the fastest way to eliminate potentially contaminated lettuce from tablets and tables.
"The Romaine lettuce sector has agreed to comply with the FDA's request to remove any romaine lettuce on the market at this time, and the available information suggests that this action effectively removed potentially contaminated lettuce from retail, "said the FDA.
Since then, producers and distributors have agreed to label the romaine lettuce that comes to market with the location and date of harvest to facilitate identification of the source of future outbreaks, according to the FDA. The agency said the industry was guaranteeing that this labeling would become a common practice.
"In addition, the green leafy vegetable industry has decided to create a working group to find solutions for the long-term labeling of romaine lettuce and other leafy green vegetables to facilitate identification of green leafy vegetables. products and put in place traceability standards, "said the FDA. "The working group will also review the information from this outbreak to identify the measures that led to its emergence and determine how to prevent persistent safety issues related to romaine lettuce. One of the results could be to extend the labeling commitment indicating the origin and date of harvest to other leafy vegetables.
Laboratory tests showed the strain of E. coli The origin of the current outbreak of O157: H7 is similar to a strain that caused an outbreak in the United States and Canada last year.
A spokeswoman for the CDC said Infectious Diseases News that the current epidemic is not related to an epidemic of E. coli O157: H7 linked to romaine lettuce that sickened 200 people in 36 states at the beginning of the year. The outbreak, which ended on June 28, was linked to a growing region in Arizona and California. – by Gerard Gallagher
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