The Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are warning consumers, retailers and restaurants not to eat, sell or serve romaine lettuce harvested from the Central Coastal growing regions of northern and central California because that lettuce might be contaminated with illness-causing E. coli bacteria.
“If you do not know where the romaine is from, do not eat it,” warned the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned in a separate food safety alert Tuesday.”
The recent warning is a downgrade from the original health advisory sent out on Nov. 20 advising all consumers to avoid all romaine lettuce until the source of the problem could be detected.
That warning prompted grocery stores, including Redner’s, Weis and Giant markets, along with restaurants across the nation to pull romaine off their store shelves and out of their kitchens.
The latest advisory from health officials said that romaine lettuce from other large growing regions near Yuma, in southern California’s growing region near Imperial County and Riverside County, the state of Florida, and Mexico are not linked to the outbreak, nor is hydroponically or greenhouse-grown romaine.
“Romaine lettuce products will be labeled with a harvest location by region,” the CDC warning stated. “It may take some time before these labels are available. If the romaine lettuce is not labeled with a harvest growing region, do not buy, serve, sell, or eat it.”
As of Monday, 43 people in 12 states were infected with the strain of E. coli known as 0157:H7. That included 11 in California, nine in New Jersey, five in New York and seven in Michigan.
Health officials said illnesses started on dates ranging from Oct. 8 to Oct. 31, with 16 being hospitalized including one who developed a type of kidney failure.
No deaths have been reported, according to the CDC.
Grocery chains were quick to respond to the Nov. 20 warnings.
The vast majority of products were tracked and cleared from the shelves at Redner’s Markets within an hour of the Nov. 20 advisory, said Redner’s spokesman Eric B. White. That chain has 43 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.
Products included whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine and bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes that contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad, White said.
Weis Markets, with 204 stores in seven states, including 125 stores in Pennsylvania and four in Berks County, removed 30 brands of products from store shelves immediately upon receiving the Nov. 20 advisory, according to spokesman Dennis Curtin.
“When the FDA issues a class one advisory, we understand it and follow it to the letter,” Curtin said. “We’re not going to take any chances on behalf of our customers.”
“Food safety is our top priority,” said Giant spokeswoman Ashley Flower. That chain, with 171 stores including six in Berks County, voluntarily removed all potentially impacted products on Nov. 20.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and encourage consumers to follow CDC guidance,” Flower said. “We also remain in contact with our supplier partners so that we are able to bring romaine lettuce back as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Romaine products are slowly making their way back onto shelves.
“We will have product this weekend and it will be clearly marked with location of origin, as well as, consumer notices from FDA as to what areas are cleared in terms of not being affected,” White said.
At Weis, Olivia brand bagged, organic salads were back on the shelves over the weekend, Curtin said, adding that other brands of salads from safe growing regions will be returning later this week.
Neither Weis nor Redner’s would comment about the value of inventory lost during the recall.
Saladworks, a Conshohocken, Montgomery County-based chain with more than 100 locations across the globe, including one in Wyomissing, posted a message on Facebook stating: “Romaine calm. The CDC issued an alert that romaine is officially safe.”
The CDC’s advisory, did not make that claim, but instead clarified that lettuce grown in unaffected regions was safe.
The most recent health agency alert advised restaurants to wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators where romaine was stored.
Contact Jeff McGaw, 610-371-5071 or jmcgaw@readingeagle.com.
