Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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[Here's a question - aren't all the greens recalls over bagged greens?]

Romaine Lettuce RECALL In 23 States Over E. Coli: DETAILS
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/06/lettuce-recall-e-coli-pos_n_566956.html
MARY CLARE JALONICK | 05/ 6/10 10:08 PM

WASHINGTON — An E. coli outbreak possibly linked to tainted lettuce has 
sickened at least 19 people in Ohio, New York and Michigan, including 
students on three college campuses, prompting a recall throughout much of the 
country.

Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, said it was recalling romaine lettuce sold 
under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands in 23 states and the District of 
Columbia because of a possible link to E. coli.

Twelve of those sickened were hospitalized, three of them with 
life-threatening symptoms, the Food and Drug Administration said. The federal 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was looking at 10 other 
cases probably linked to the outbreak.

College students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ohio State in 
Columbus and Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y., are among those affected, 
according to local health departments in those states.

The FDA is focusing its investigation on lettuce grown in Arizona as a 
possible source for the outbreak, according to two people who have been 
briefed by the agency. Donna Rosenbaum, director of the food safety advocacy 
group Safe Tables Our Priority and one of those briefed, said the agency held 
a phone call with public health advocates Thursday.

Rosenbaum and other public health advocates have long been pushing for 
stronger food safety laws. The House passed a bill last year that would give 
the agency much more authority to police food production, but the Senate has 
not acted on it.

The New York state Public Health Laboratory in Albany discovered the 
contamination in a bag of Freshway Foods shredded romaine lettuce on 
Wednesday after local authorities had been investigating the outbreak for 
several weeks. The bag of lettuce came from a processing facility that was 
also linked to the illnesses, the FDA said. The agency would not disclose the 
name of that facility or its location but said an investigation was under way.

E. coli infection can cause mild diarrhea or more severe complications, 
including kidney damage. The three patients with life-threatening symptoms 
were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause bleeding in 
the brain or kidneys.

It was not immediately clear why students on college campuses were sickened. 
Freshway Foods said the lettuce was sold to wholesalers, food service 
outlets, in-store salad bars and delis.

Susan Cerniglia, spokeswoman for the public health department in Washtenaw 
County, where the University of Michigan is located, said it doesn't appear 
that students who were sickened ate the contaminated food on campus. It is 
believed they may have been sickened at local restaurants, she said.

The Erie County, N.Y., health department issued an alert late last month, 
however, that linked at least one diagnosis of E. coli to a student who ate 
at a Daemen College dining facility.

The most common strain of E. coli found in U.S. patients is E. coli O157. The 
CDC said the strain linked to the lettuce, E. coli 0145, is more difficult to 
identify and may go unreported.

Freshway Foods said in a statement Thursday that the FDA informed the company 
about the positive test in New York on Wednesday afternoon. The statement 
said "an extensive FDA investigation" of Freshway Foods' facility in Sidney 
has not uncovered any contamination at the plant.

The recalled lettuce has a "best if used by" date of May 12 or earlier. The 
recall also affects "grab and go" salads sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles 
Markets and Marsh grocery stores.

The lettuce was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, 
Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, 
Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West 
Virginia and Wisconsin.