CDC
issues warning of e-coli contamination
Outbreak has already sickened people in Massachusetts and Connecticut
US
Centers for Disease Control
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. This investigation is ongoing and the advice will be updated as
more information is available.
·
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.
o This advice includes all types or uses of
romaine lettuce, such as 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.
o If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or
whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away.
o Wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in
refrigerators where romaine was stored. Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator.
·
Restaurants and
retailers should not serve or sell any romaine lettuce, including salads and
salad mixes containing romaine.
UPDATE ON OUTBREAK From Dr. Scott Gottlieb of the CDC: The romaine
implicated in the current outbreak is likely from California based on growing
and harvesting patterns. The goal now is to withdraw the product that’s at risk
of being contaminated from the market, and then re-stock the market.
New romaine from different growing regions, including Florida and Arizona,
will soon be harvested. We’re working with growers and distributors on labeling
produce for location and harvest date and possibly other ways of informing
consumers that the product is “post-purge.”
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
idenfitifaction and traceability in the system.
In a move environmentalists and journalists denounced as a
blatant effort to bury facts that conflict with the president's denialism and
pro-fossil fuel agenda, the Trump administration used the Friday after
Thanksgiving to quietly release Volume
II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4).
