California romaine lettuce linked to the epidemic of E. coli

Romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli makes people sick again, and now the Food and Drug Administration has a better sense of where it comes from: Thanksgiving investigators have been tracking contaminated lettuce in the California Central Coast crop region. The FDA is now saying that we are certain to eat Roman grown in other regions. But if you fancy a Caesar salad after purging last week's products and you can not know where the Roman comes from, do not buy it.

E. coli is naturally present in the intestines of animals – and many strains are not harmful to the health of ingested people. But the strain involved in this latest outbreak, E. coli O157: H7, produces dangerous toxins and may cause kidney failure. Until now, 43 people in the United States and 22 people in Canada are sick, according to an FDA statement. At least two have developed kidney failure, according to last week's announcements.

In the beginning, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a national warning against the diet. all Roman. After investigating, the FDA now limits the warning to Romaine's only growing regions of central California, where it grows during the summer. "The outbreak appears to be related to late season" romaine lettuce "harvested in these areas," the FDA said in its announcement today.

The agency says there is no reason to believe that the regions that cultivate Roman winter – including Florida, Mexico and the desert regions of California and Arizona – are contaminated. Lettuce grown in hydroponics and in greenhouses should also be good. That's why it's essential to clearly label products on grocery store shelves, says the FDA statement: knowing where the food comes from will help consumers avoid contaminated and recalled foods.

In the future, the labels of the new Roman hitting grocery shelves might be a little different if the companies involved in the Roman supply chain were following the advice of the FDA; they should include a place of harvest and a date, for example. And they should say if the Roman was grown in hydroponics or in a greenhouse. If the labels do not contain this information, the FDA's advice is clear: "You must not eat or use it."