The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA is alerting the public to romaine lettuce originating from the United States due to potential contamination with the E coli bacteria.
An outbreak due to romaine lettuce contaminated with E. Coli from the upper California region occurred exactly a year ago.
This advice is based on the food safety alert issued by both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) not to consume any romaine lettuce from the Salinas region. The Salinas region as defined by the United Fresh Produce Association and the Produce Marketing Association includes Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey counties in California.
According to the CDC, as of November 21, 40 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from 16 states in the United States. The case patients report that illnesses started on dates ranging from September 24 to November 10. 28 of the 40 infected people are hospitalized, officials said. No one has died.
Lettuce harvested from Salinas
The Inspectorate strongly advises restaurants to not serve romaine lettuce harvested from Salinas, California, including salads and salad mixes containing romaine. “If you do not know the source of your romaine lettuce, and if you cannot obtain that information from your supplier, you should not serve nor sell it.”
The Inspectorate said that at this stage in the investigation, the most efficient way to ensure that contaminated romaine is off the market would be for industry to voluntarily withdraw product grown in Salinas, and to withhold distribution of Salinas romaine for the remainder of the growing season in Salinas. The FDA has made this request of industry.
