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Romaine Lettuce was still on the shelves of an Albertsons market on Tuesday November 20, 2018 in Simi Valley, California. Health officials in the United States and Canada have asked the public to stop eating romaine lettuce because of a new outbreak of E. coli. (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)
Federal health officials said Monday that only Romaine lettuce from parts of California was unfit for consumption and that romaine lettuce entering the market would now be labeled to inform consumers when and where harvest.
If consumers, retailers and foodservice establishments can not determine if romaine was grown outside of California, they should not eat it and should discard it, even if some was consumed and no one became ill , according to one long statement by Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
FDA officials have stated that the most likely source of contamination is from the growing areas of the central coast of northern and central California. Romaine lettuce harvested outside these areas "does not seem to be related to the current outbreak," the FDA said. The hydroponic and greenhouse-grown Roman does not seem to be affected by the epidemic either. The Roman from these sources is healthy to eat, said the FDA.
No producer, supplier, distributor or brand of romaine lettuce has been identified during the outbreak. Several large producers of romaine lettuce have agreed to label the products with a harvest date by region, and a new Roman from different growing regions, including Florida and Arizona, is being replenished in the shelves of grocery stores.
The new warning from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appeared as the number of people sick with the outbreak rose to 43 people in 12 states.
The updated information follows an unusually broad warning that the federal health authorities issued two days before Thanksgiving, urging consumers to discard any romaine lettuce that they may have already purchased. At the time of the outbreak, the majority of the Roman market was grown in the Central Coast region of California. Since then, the Roman harvest has ended and moved to winter growing areas, including the California desert region of the Imperial Valley, the desert region of Arizona to Yuma and surrounding areas, as well as Florida, said Gottlieb's statement.
Romaine lettuce grown in Mexico is exported to the United States during the winter months. Smaller quantities are grown in other states.
"For the moment, the FDA has no information suggesting that these growing areas are involved in the current outbreak, which began well before the romaine lettuce of these winter crops was available. for the harvest, "said Gotttlieb's statement. The hydroponic and greenhouse-grown Roman does not seem to be linked to the epidemic either, he said.
"It is not recommended for consumers or retailers to avoid using Roman harvested from these sources."
The investigators found the Roman eaten by sick people during the epidemic. US officials are also coordinating with the Public Health Agency of Canada, which is also investigating a similar outbreak. The Canadian agency reported 22 confirmed cases in three provinces: Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.
E. coli is a bacterium that lives naturally in the intestines of cattle, poultry and other animals. The bacteria can contaminate a wide variety of agricultural products by contact with the feces of infected animals. Most strains of E. Coli are harmless to humans, but some varieties can cause serious illness.
Five people died during the last major contaminated Roman-contaminated epidemic, 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 of the FDA said the main suspect was contaminated canal water used by several farms.
The diseases of the current epidemic began in October and are not related to the Yuma epidemic. The strain in this one has the same genetic fingerprint as the one that caused disease late last year in the United States and Canada. Canada tied its business to Romaine lettuce in particular, but US investigators only indicated that the origin was green leafy vegetables. This outbreak was declared over in January. The precise origin has never been determined.
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.
Read more:
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