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martyb [soylentnews.org] writes:

The US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) are warning of a serious multi-state E. Coli O157:H7 outbreak [cdc.gov] that has sickened 32 people, caused 11 hospitalizations, and caused a case of hemolytic uremic syndrome [wikipedia.org], a type of kidney failure.

CDC is advising consumers, restaurants, and retailers not to eat, serve, or sell any romaine lettuce as it investigates an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to romaine.  Read the investigation announcement: https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-11-18/index.html [soylentnews.org].

[...] Advice to Consumers, Retailers, and Restaurants:

• CDC is advising that U.S. consumers not eat any romaine lettuce, and retailers and restaurants not serve or sell any, until we learn more about the outbreak. This investigation is ongoing and the advice will be updated as more information is available.
• Consumers who have any type of romaine lettuce in their home should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick.
  • This advice includes all types or uses of romaine lettuce, such as whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes that contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad.
  • If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away.
• Restaurants and retailers should not serve or sell any romaine lettuce, including salads and salad mixes containing romaine.
• People with symptoms of an E. coli infection [soylentnews.org], such as severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting, and think you might have gotten sick from eating romaine lettuce, should talk to their doctor and report their illness to the health department.
• This investigation is ongoing and CDC will provide more information as it becomes available.

As a precautionary measure, they also advise that if you had any Romaine lettuce, to clean your refrigerator and any surfaces with soapy water and then disinfect with a bleach solution.

They emphasize that it is not possible to sufficiently clean any Romaine lettuce you may have as the bacteria can lodge in micro crevices in the lettuce.

Yes, there are more risky things in one's life to worry about. On the other hand, giving up some salad and avoiding a few days of bleeding diarrhea seems a fair trade-off to me.

Original Submission