SOURCE: THV11
Great! Just days before Thanksgiving, the Centers for Disease Control issued a food safety alert on Tuesday warning consumers to avoid all romaine lettuce due to another multi-state E. coli outbreak in the U.S. and Canada.
So no salad with romaine lettuce on the Thanksgiving dinner table.
According to the CDC alert, there have already been 32 reported cases of E. coli linked to this outbreak across 11 states. While the department has yet to pinpoint an exact cause, epidemiologic evidence indicated that romaine lettuce is likely the source of this outbreak. (Whatever that means, but I'm trusting it.)
Thirteen people so far have been hospitalized in the U.S., including one person who developed a type of kidney failure, the alert said. Those infected so far range in age from 7 to 84 years. No deaths have been reported.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has also reported 18 people infected with the same E. coli strain.
"CDC is advising that consumers not eat any romaine lettuce, and restaurants and retailers not sell any, until we learn more about this outbreak and the source of the contaminated lettuce," the alert noted.
The CDC advised consumers to throw out any romaine lettuce they have and to wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators where it was stored.