If you’ve been reading the news lately, you know that the past few months have not been a great time for food-borne illnesses. On the one hand, there was a recall of more than 200 million eggs as a result of salmonella fears. More recently, there was an even wider outbreak announced by the CDC that romaine lettuce originating from Yuma, Arizona was not safe to eat because it was contaminated with E. coli. Just a few days ago, there was another update that the illnesses had spread to further states.
Fortunately, the CDC just released some good news on the romaine lettuce situation.
As of May 17th, the CDC says that romaine lettuce is officially back on the menu!
According to an article in the New York Times, the official harvest season for romaine lettuce in the originating area was officially over: as a result, any romaine you may be getting off the shelves is safe now. More officially, the CDC has also released a new statement of their own on their website:
“The FDA has received confirmation from the Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement administered by the Arizona Department of Agriculture that romaine lettuce is no longer being produced and distributed from the Yuma growing region and that the last date of harvest was April 16, 2018. It is unlikely that any romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region is still available in stores or restaurants due to its 21-day shelf life.”
As a result, any lettuce you’re going to buy now is safe once again.
Beyond the helpful news for consumers, there was more to the statement as well.
Despite the immediate danger being over, the CDC also went on to say that they were still working with the FDA to get to the bottom of the outbreak’s origins:
“The FDA is continuing to investigate illnesses related to romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region. The ongoing traceback investigation indicates that the illnesses associated with this outbreak cannot be explained by a single grower, harvester, processor, or distributor. While traceback continues, FDA will focus on trying to identify factors that contributed to contamination of romaine across multiple supply chains. The agency is examining all possibilities, including that contamination may have occurred at any point along the growing, harvesting, packaging, and distribution chain before reaching consumers. ”
Though there may be a few unreported cases yet to come, the total number of illnesses was most recently up to 172.
In all, these E. coli outbreaks had spread to 32 different states, namely Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Of those, California, Idaho and Minnesota were hit the hardest.
Fortunately, the ordeal seems to be over for the time being!
Aside from the lettuce issue, however, the advisory against certain eggs and salmonella remains in effect.
Anyone who has egg cartons that likely originated from Rose Acre Farms, specifically from that organization’s Hyde County farm in North Carolina, should throw those eggs out as they could still be dangerous! Any cartons marked P-1065 or P-1359D are not safe to eat. Regardless of that caveat, everyone can take a breath knowing that they can contentedly eat their Caesar salads again.
Let your friends know that the scare is over and stay tuned to our page or the CDC for more updates on the salmonella story!
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