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Recall On Romaine Lettuce from Freshway Foods
Freshway Foods Lettuce Recall
We've been aware of this outbreak for a little over a week and a half now, but no recall had been announced until now. Science takes time, unfortunately.
This recall affects lettuce sold primarily to food service establishments - places that make salads, wraps, sandwiches, and so forth.
E. coli O145 infections are extremely uncommon; to date, we've only had two full outbreaks of the organism, and those were both small and relatively isolated. No outbreak of O145 has ever been detected in fresh produce until now.
O145 is a shigatoxin-producing E. coli (STEC); symptoms include abdominal cramps and diarrhea - very often, it is bloody diarrhea. You'll know if you have it; the cramping and diarrhea are severe. Most people usually recover after a week or so, but the illness can rarely (about 5 - 10% of the time) complicate to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe and sometimes (15% or so mortality rate) fatal condition. HUS is most often seen in the very young (<5 years old) and the elderly.
It is worth noting that this outbreak should be of particular concern to the forums, as the age association is unusual. All of the illnesses reported so far are from patients whose ages range from about 12 years old to 25 years old. The outbreak is linked to lettuce from Freshway Foods served in school cafeterias and college food vendors. The news is reporting that there are 3 cases of HUS so far (out of a total of 30 cases), but I've heard unconfirmed reports of more cases than that.
So, watch out. This is no joke.
We've been aware of this outbreak for a little over a week and a half now, but no recall had been announced until now. Science takes time, unfortunately.
This recall affects lettuce sold primarily to food service establishments - places that make salads, wraps, sandwiches, and so forth.
E. coli O145 infections are extremely uncommon; to date, we've only had two full outbreaks of the organism, and those were both small and relatively isolated. No outbreak of O145 has ever been detected in fresh produce until now.
O145 is a shigatoxin-producing E. coli (STEC); symptoms include abdominal cramps and diarrhea - very often, it is bloody diarrhea. You'll know if you have it; the cramping and diarrhea are severe. Most people usually recover after a week or so, but the illness can rarely (about 5 - 10% of the time) complicate to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe and sometimes (15% or so mortality rate) fatal condition. HUS is most often seen in the very young (<5 years old) and the elderly.
It is worth noting that this outbreak should be of particular concern to the forums, as the age association is unusual. All of the illnesses reported so far are from patients whose ages range from about 12 years old to 25 years old. The outbreak is linked to lettuce from Freshway Foods served in school cafeterias and college food vendors. The news is reporting that there are 3 cases of HUS so far (out of a total of 30 cases), but I've heard unconfirmed reports of more cases than that.
So, watch out. This is no joke.
Comments
Here is the full list of recalled products. Note that it includes a number of lettuce blends, many of which are less than 10% romaine.
I can say that if the organism is present anywhere in the romaine production line, all of the product from that line is at least suspect. I would avoid it completely, but that is my personal decision and is in no way an official advisory from any agency.
Note that this applies very specifically to food service pre-shredded lettuce. Freshway products are not available in the produce section of your local grocery. Likewise, whole heads of lettuce or bunches of romaine are not implicated.
EDIT: Freshway also distributes east of the Mississippi exclusively, so the West coast is not currently implicated.
EDIT: Once again, retail grocery store lettuce is not implicated. Deli salad bars, food service establishments, and wholesalers are affected. The lettuce you got on your sub is suspect, but the bagged salad you bought is not.