By now, you’re probably aware that there was a massive recall of romaine lettuce announced earlier this week, right before the Thanksgiving holiday. Everything from “whole heads of lettuce, boxes of precut lettuce, hearts of romaine to salad mixes that contain romaine” were recalled over concerns that the products were potentially contaminated with E. coli. Fortunately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced earlier today that it has found the source of the contamination.
By now, you’re probably aware that there was a massive recall of romaine lettuce announced earlier this week, right before the Thanksgiving holiday. Everything from “whole heads of lettuce, boxes of precut lettuce, hearts of romaine to salad mixes that contain romaine” were recalled over concerns that the products were potentially contaminated with E. coli. Fortunately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced earlier today that it has found the source of the contamination.
Earlier today, Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner, announced on Twitter that the “romaine implicated in the current outbreak is likely from California based on growing and harvesting patterns.” He added:
“The goal now is to withdraw the product that’s at risk of being contaminated from the market, and then re-stock the market [with] new romaine from different growing regions, including Florida and Arizona.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org
Around the time the recall was originally announced, 30 people throughout 11 states had been affected and 13 people were even hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a result, the FDA began urging consumers to throw away any romaine lettuce they happened to have and instructed restaurants not to serve it to guests.
Now, days after the recall was issued, Gottlieb noted that his agency is in the process of “working with growers and distributors to label produce with a ‘post-purge’ date to inform consumers that certain products are now safe to eat.” He added:
“We want to help unaffected growers get back into production and enable stores and consumers to re-stock. One goal we’re seeking is to make this type of labeling the new standard rather than a short-term fix; as a way to improve identification and traceability in the system.”
Sources:
Massive romaine lettuce warning linked to California
Romaine lettuce linked to E. coli scare likely came from California: FDA commissioner
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