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Romaine lettuce is dangerous in all its forms, said Tuesday a center for prevention and control of diseases in a food security alert, in response to a new outbreak of diseases caused by a particularly dangerous type of E. coli bacteria.
The CDC has asked consumers to discard any romaine lettuce that they may have already purchased. Restaurants should not serve it, stores should not sell it, and people should not buy it, no matter where and when lettuce has been grown. It does not matter if it is chopped, the whole head or part of a mixture.
The unusually wide warning, issued just two days before Americans sit down for their Thanksgiving dinner, reflects uncertainties about the origin and extent of bacterial contamination. The CDC does not claim that all the Roman contains the dangerous bacteria – it is worth remembering the millions of people who have recently eaten the popular lettuce – but the investigators do not know exactly where, when and how the contamination occurs. is produced.
So all the Roman is suspicious.
The CDC reported that 32 people in 11 states fell ill while eating contaminated romaine. Of these, 13 were hospitalized, with one patient suffering from a form of renal failure. The Public Health Agency of Canada reported that 18 people were infected with the same strain of E. Coli in Ontario and Quebec.
No deaths have been reported.
"Consumers who have any type of romaine lettuce at home should not eat or dispose of it, even if some of it was eaten and no one was sick," the CDC said. the food safety alert published shortly before 3 pm.
"This advice applies to all types or uses of romaine lettuce, such as whole heads of romaine, romaine hearts, bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine, including romaine lettuce, spring mix and Caesar salad ". CDC said. "If you do not know if lettuce is Roman or if a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it or throw it away."
The agency also advised consumers to wash and disinfect the drawers and shelves where lettuce was stored. According to the CDC, people usually get sick three or four days after consuming lettuce contaminated with E. coli.
Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said the imminence of the Thanksgiving holiday weighed in the minds of federal officials as they prepared the food alert.
"I think we felt increased pressure to try to communicate earlier and in a more substantive way with the public, knowing that people are going to sit down for Christmas meals," Gottlieb said.
But he acknowledged that it is "frustrating and unfortunate" that the alert is so wide and covers all the Roman lettuce. Federal agencies and industry are trying to improve tracing techniques to reduce the sources of outbreaks, he said. "We need to be able to provide consumers with more specific information on what they should not eat, rather than these more general alerts."
California has the highest number of reported diseases, with 10, followed by Michigan with seven, New Jersey with three, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York with two each, and the rest of Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a statement in which she said she was making special efforts to test Roman contamination across the country.
"The quick and aggressive steps we are taking today are to make sure we move forward on this emerging epidemic, reduce the risk to consumers, and help people protect themselves and their families from this global disease epidemic." food origin. This is particularly important in the future. of Thanksgiving, when people go to sit down for a family meal, "Gottlieb said.
Five people died during the last major epidemic of contaminated Roman, which lasted from March to June of this year and resulted in 210 cases in 36 states. This epidemic has been attributed to the growing Yuma, Arizona region, but investigators have never conclusively determined the exact source. Gottlieb said the main suspect was contaminated canal water used by several farms.
The latest outbreak does not appear to be related to the Yuma epidemic. This outbreak rather involves an E strain. Coli that has the same genetic fingerprint as the one that caused disease at the end of last year in the United States and Canada. Canada has tied its business to Romaine lettuce in particular, although US investigators have clarified that only this origin was in leafy vegetables. Again, the exact origin has never been determined. This outbreak was declared over in January.
The first disease of this outbreak was reported on October 6. There are usually delays in the reporting of diseases related to E outbreaks. Coli, and the CDC said that cases from early November had probably not been recorded by health officials.
But it is striking to note that this year's outbreak occurs at about the same time as last year and carries a similar fingerprint. The Canadian health agency noted that this "suggests that there could be a recurring source of contamination".
"If the epidemic of 2017 and this outbreak are a genetic match, the FDA should have an incredible window on where this outbreak, where this lettuce was grown, was able to triangulate in an area given, "said safety lawyer Bill Marler.
He added that his company had received many calls in recent months, claiming that she was suffering from E. Coli, but she did not know it could be linked to a large epidemic.
"I will have to hire more lawyers," said Marler.
E. coli is a bacterium found in the intestines of animals. It can contaminate a wide variety of agricultural products. People can be infected with E. coli and have no symptoms. People with E. Coli usually recover without complications in five to ten days. The disease can be transmitted from one person to another through direct contact.
The three epidemics – the current one, that of Yuma and that of last year – are due to contamination of an E strain. Coli known as O157: H7. It produces a Shiga toxin that, in severe cases, can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure.
The symptoms of infection with this strain include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Anyone who suspects that they have been infected should see a doctor and report the case to a local health unit.
Until the 1990s, most cases of E. coli infection in humans came from contaminated hamburger consumption. In recent years, after the reforms of the livestock industry, outbreaks were most often associated with green leafy vegetables.
Gottlieb of the FDA said that the apparent increase in outbreaks could be misleading. The food is no less safe today than it was in the past, he said:
"It seems likely that there are more outbreaks, what happens is that we identify much better the identification of epidemics."
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