FDA, CDC say most recent E. coli outbreaks are over

Three outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce has been declared over by the FDA and CDC.
Photo: © ochong, Adobe Stock

Published January 16, 2020

In a statement attributed to Frank Yiannas, the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA and Centers for Disease Control say that the most recent E. coli outbreaks are over. Three strains of E. coli O157:H7 were first reported in December stemming from romaine lettuce grown in the Salinas, California area.

"The FDA is lifting the consumer advisory to avoid romaine lettuce from Salinas as the growing season for this region is over, and there is no longer a need for consumers to avoid it," the statement reads. "There is also no need to avoid other produce products from Salinas."

"The FDA and CDC have been tracking two multi-state romaine lettuce outbreaks. Today, federal health officials are declaring both multi-state romaine lettuce outbreaks over. One of the outbreaks sickened 167 people in 27 states. The other outbreak, linked to Fresh Express salad kits, sickened 10 people in five states. There was also a third outbreak in Washington State that sickened 11 people. This outbreak has also been declared over."

Per the statement, a dive into records indicated that there was a "commonality" in the outbreaks with a single grower producing romaine in multiple fields. From there, the list of possible outbreak sources was narrowed down to 10 fields in the Salinas area. The investigation for the exact source is still ongoing.

The full statement is available here.

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