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Warning issued for lettuce from the Salinas growing region

Farm Press Staff

November 22, 2019

1 Min Read
Lettuce harvested in Watsonville
Lettuce is harvested in Watsonville, Calif. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning about romaine lettuce produced in the Salinas area after a foodborne illness outbreak.Tim Hearden

The U.S.. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising that consumers not eat and retailers not sell any romaine lettuce harvested from the Salinas, Calif., growing region.

The warning comes after Missa Bay,, LLC, announced it is is recalling approximately 75,233  pounds of salad products that contain meat or poultry because the lettuce ingredient may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

The products subject to the recall can be found on the following spreadsheet, according to the USDA.

The recall and warning follow a foodborne illness outbreak that has so far affected 40 people in 16 states, causing 28 hospitalizations but no deaths, the CDC reports.

The federal warning includes all types of romaine lettuce harvested from Salinas such as whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and packages of precut lettuce and salad mixes which contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad. The CDC advises consumers and retailers to discard any romaine from the Salinas area.

The warning comes a year after another E. coli outbreak linked to romaine from California's Central Coast occurred just before Thanksgiving in 2018, sickening 62 people in 16 states and prompting stores and restaurants across the country to agree to temporarily stop selling the lettuce.

Related:FDA to sample romaine lettuce

With this year's outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its inquiry led investigators to farms in Salinas and that they were looking for the contamination source, according to The Associated Press.

“It’s very, very disturbing. Very frustrating all around,” Trevor Suslow of the Produce Marketing Association told the wire service.

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