Romaine lettuce is unsafe to eat in any form, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a food safety alert sparked by a dangerous type of E. coli contamination.
“CDC is advising that U.S. consumers not eat any romaine lettuce, and retailers and restaurants not serve or sell any, until we learn more about the outbreak,” the alert warned two days before Thanksgiving.
“Consumers who have any type of romaine lettuce in their home should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick,” the warning added, saying it included “all types or uses of romaine lettuce” — including in salad mixes.
Restaurants also are being advised by the CDC to not serve it, and stores are being told not to sell it.
The CDC reported that 32 people in 11 states have been sickened in the outbreak that started Oct. 8-31; 13 were hospitalized, including one who developed a type of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.
The Public Health Agency of Canada identified 18 people who were sickened with the same bacteria in Ontario and Quebec.
For people how have romaine lettuce in their homes, the CDC is advising they wash and sanitize any drawers or shelves where it was stored. People usually get sick within three or four days of consuming contaminated lettuce, the alert aid.
Five people died in the most recent major outbreak from contaminated romaine, which lasted from March to June this year and led to 210 cases in 36 states. That outbreak was traced to the Yuma, Ariz., growing region, but investigators never conclusively determined the precise source.
The Post noted that until the 1990s, most E. coli cases in humans came from eating contaminated hamburger. In more recent years, after reforms in the livestock industry, the outbreaks have been most often associated with leafy greens.
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