The latest E. coli outbreak has taken a turn for the worse. Since early April of this year, people in the U.S. have heeded warnings to avoid romaine lettuce due to an E. coli outbreak in the Yuma, Arizona growing region. And it’s important to keep heeding those warnings, because the outbreak is spreading.
On May 9th, the CDC released updated information about the fatal E. coli outbreak. According to new figures, 149 people have been infected in 29 states. 64 people have been hospitalized, and one person has died from the E. coli outbreak. This is 28 more people affected and four more states (Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas) involved since the CDC’s last update on May 2nd. The highest concentration of cases is in California (30), Pennsylvania (20), Idaho (11), and Minnesota (10).
Worse yet, the outbreak has spread to Canada. According to CBC, six Canadians have been affected by the compromised romaine. The Public Health Agency of Canada claim that two out of the six sick Canadians were traveling in the U.S. before contracting E.coli. They stated that they ate romaine lettuce while they were in the States.
The others claim that they had romaine in Canada. It’s being investigated where and how exactly the three non-traveling Canadians contracted the virus. Even if they didn’t consume romaine, it’s possible for E.coli to spread from one person to another if they’re not washing their hands after using the bathroom (aka, through fecal contamination).
People are feeling all kinds of ways about this.
Some truly miss the days of eating romaine lettuce and not fearing for their lives.
Dear Romaine, I miss you! Sincerely, Salad Lover 😭🥗 #ecolioutbreak #ecoli #romainelettuce
— Bridget (@BridgetDaisy22) May 10, 2018
Others could care less.
JUST STOP EATING ROMAINE LETTUCE! No one likes it anyway. #romainelettuce #ecoli #romainelettuceoutbreak #foodcontamination
— Lex (@soundslikealexl) May 10, 2018
The CDC hasn’t issued a formal romaine lettuce recall yet, but they have warned consumers to stay away from romaine lettuce for now.
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“Do not eat or buy romaine lettuce unless you can confirm it is not from the Yuma growing region. Romaine lettuce has a shelf life of several weeks, and contaminated lettuce could still be in homes, stores, and restaurants,” the CDC warns consumers. “This advice includes whole heads and hearts of romaine, chopped romaine, baby romaine, organic romaine, and salads and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce. If you do not know if the lettuce in a salad mix is romaine, do not eat it.”
How can you avoid E. coli?
By avoiding romaine. If you have romaine in your refrigerator and you aren’t sure where it came from, toss it in the trash. At restaurants, ask where their lettuce is sourced from. And it can’t hurt to clean any surfaces in your kitchen that recently came in contact with romaine. All in all, just be extra conscious when buying and handling food. And be extra diligent about washing your hands.
We see a lot of kale in our future.
