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Set All The Romaine Lettuce Ablaze
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 20, 2018
Modified Nov 20, 2018
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 20, 2018
Modified Nov 20, 2018
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In alarming news for anyone who, say, ate a romaine lettuce salad in the past week: the CDC is warning of a new E. coli contamination. In what is frankly a goddamn terrifying article, the Washington Post warns: "The CDC told consumers to throw away any romaine lettuce they may already have purchased. Restaurants should not serve it, stores should not sell it, and people should not buy it, no matter where or when the lettuce was grown. It doesn’t matter if it is chopped, whole head or part of a mix. All romaine should be avoided." My God. Burn all the lettuce, then drown it just to make sure.
"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,” the CDC warned.
The alert comes after a reported 32 people in 11 states became ill from eating contaminated romaine. 13 of those people have been hospitalized, and one is suffering from kidney failure. There have been no deaths at this time (during an outbreak earlier this year, there were five deaths). In Canada, another 18 people have been "infected with the same DNA fingerprint of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria."
According to the CDC, illnesses started on dates ranging from October 8th to October 31st, 2018. They are "advising that consumers do not eat any romaine lettuce because no common grower, supplier, distributor, or brand of romaine lettuce has been identified." Their investigation is ongoing, and they will provide more information when it becomes available.
The CDC also notes that "people usually get sick from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) 2-8 days (average of 3-4 days) after swallowing the germ."
According to the CDC map, two of the recent cases have been in New York.
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romaine lettuce
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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