CDC: Throw Away Romaine Lettuce Unless Source is Known

PC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. cdc.gov

A multi-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections is linked to romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona growing region.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today issued an advisory saying that “Unless the source of the product is known, consumers anywhere in the United States who have any store-bought romaine lettuce at home should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick.”

The CDC advises that product labels often do not identify growing regions. The agency advises that the public should throw out any romaine lettuce if you’re uncertain about where it was grown.

This includes whole heads and hearts of romaine, chopped romaine, and salads and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce.

Restaurants and retailers are also being advised not serve or sell any romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona growing region. The expanded warning is based on information from newly reported illnesses in Alaska. The CDC reports that ill people in Alaska reported eating lettuce from whole heads of romaine lettuce from the affected growing region.

As of April 18, 2018, there were a total of 53 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7. None of the cases were in Hawaiʻi. Click here for a map showing the recent case count.