WATSONVILLE — A North American recall of romaine lettuce has put a huge dent in the annual $650 million crop.
Two days before Thanksgiving, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) sent out a warning to consumers, restaurants and retailers not to eat, serve or consume romaine lettuce after discovering an outbreak of a strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 in a portion of the crop.
The CDC reported that the outbreak has sickened 32 people in the U.S. since early October, with 13 hospitalizations and one person reportedly developing a type of kidney failure. In Canada, 19 people have been infected in the provinces of Ontario and Québec, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The outbreak is a blow to the agriculture industry, both nationally and locally.
“The huge thing for us is the rest of our season is done,” said Dick Peixoto, owner of Lakeside Organic Gardens of Watsonville. “Everyone is having to throw out all romaine lettuce products. What hurts is this a blanket decision — they are basically just throwing out the whole thing, even though we have always complied with all regulations in the organic industry. Across the country we’re looking at about 10 million servings of romaine lettuce that are bound for the landfill.”
Peixoto said his company alone is directing about 500 to 600 cartons of the product to the landfill a day. Workers were preparing 1,200 boxes of recently harvested romaine lettuce, at 24 heads per box on Friday, bound for the landfill.
“All growers are worried about this if they don’t get a handle on it soon,” Peixoto said.
The Center for Disease Control advised against eating “any romaine lettuce, including whole heads, hearts, chopped, organic and salad mixes with romaine until we learn more,” said Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. “You should definitely chuck it if there is any uncertainty.”
The agency also recommends cleaning surfaces the lettuce may have come in contact with.
California has had 10 cases of the E. coli virus; other U.S. states dealing with the outbreak include Michigan, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin. The sick have ranged from 7 to 84 years of age. No deaths have been reported.
Symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. Some people may have a mild fever. Most people get better within five to seven days. Anyone with diarrhea that lasts for more than three days, or who has a high fever, blood in their stool, or excessive vomiting should call their doctor immediately.
The CDC said that the strain of the current outbreak has the “same DNA fingerprint as the E. coli strain isolated from ill people in a 2017 outbreak.” That outbreak occurred around the same time last year, which Gottlieb said was associated with the end of California’s harvest season.
As of Thursday, the CDC was still advising people not to eat any romaine lettuce. Gottlieb said the FDA is hoping to have an update on the outbreak by Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday.
For information, visit cdc.gov.
