FDA releases results of romaine lettuce grown in Yuma

Following a recent study, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found no bacteria in romaine lettuce grown in Yuma.

According to FDA, the assignment was conducted in the Spring 2018 outbreak of E. coli linked to romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region. The outbreak involved 210 people in 36 states and resulted in 96 hospitalizations, 27 cases of the hemolytic uremic syndrome, and five deaths.

In the past, there have been five suspected or confirmed outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to produce harvested in Yuma since 2012.

The FDA field staff visited 26 commercial coolers and storage facilities in Yuma with the assistance of the Arizona Department of Agriculture and the Arizona Department of Health Services where 118 samples were collected for each pathogen. FDA reports they did not detect Salmonella in any of the samples.

FDA stated the agency detected Shiga toxin-producing E. coli ( STEC ) in a single sample, however, no further analysis determined the bacteria was not pathogenic.

The findings of this assignment suggest that there was no widespread STEC or Salmonella spp. contamination of romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region during the period when the sampling occurred.