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FDA COMMISSIONER REPORTS INFECTED ROMAINE LETTUCE IS FROM CALIFORNIA
Nov. 26, 2018
Agri-Pulse reports:
Caesar salad lovers rejoice. The heart of the romaine lettuce contamination has been narrowed down to California, meaning that the leafy greens harvested elsewhere are fit for salad bowls, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a series of tweets.
"The romaine implicated in the current outbreak is likely from California based on growing and harvesting patterns," Gottlieb announced. "The goal now is to withdraw the product that's at risk of being contaminated from the market, and then re-stock the market."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a nationwide alert last week, telling consumers to throw away all of their romaine lettuce, regardless of where it came from because the source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened dozens of people in 11 states and Canada could not be pinpointed.
Now that the government knows the contamination likely came from a California farm, it needs to find a way to assure consumers that the lettuce they're buying isn't a risk. Gottlieb says the FDA, together with farmers, is throwing together a labeling program.
"New romaine from different growing regions, including Florida and Arizona, will soon be harvested," he tweeted. "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."
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