E.Coli tainted lettuce sickened over 145 people in nearly 30 states

It is the largest multi-state E.Coli outbreak in the U.S. in a dozen years.

The CDC has reported 28 additional cases in four more states, Minnesota, Florida, North Dakota and Texas. Including one death in California.

Twenty-eight additional illnesses caused by the E.coli outbreak tied to romaine lettuce were reported by U.S. Health officials on Wednesday.

It is important to note that romaine lettuce is no longer being grown or shipped from the Yuma area. However, there is a 21-day shelf life for romaine, so there is a possibility there might still be lettuce in the supply chain.

The outbreak that began in March has now spread to nearly 30 states, affecting 149 people. Some of those cases linked back to a Yuma company, Harrison Farms.

Food safety expert at the University of Arizona, Dr. Paula Rivadeneira says it still fits the timeline since the romaine lettuce has a 21-day shelf life, “it still fits the timeline,” of being affected by it.

Rivadeneira says “As long as people have been eating romaine and not knowing where it comes from and they are getting sick and testing positive for E. Coli and it is the same strain of E.coli the FDA and CDC still need to work on their trace back and check where it is definitely coming from because they still do not know.”

New cases have come to the light since the beginning of the outbreak back in March. People have gotten sick from April 20th through May 2nd, but the CDC says all evidence suggests that all illnesses are some way connected through romaine grown in the Yuma region.

Rivadeneira says, “Let’s just say the last time it got shipped out was sometime in the middle of April, so that means you’ve got three weeks from the middle of April when that lettuce could still be sitting in the shelf of the supermarket or perhaps somebody bought it and it is just sitting in the refrigerator and t hey assume their lettuce is not from the areas of concern so they eat it and now it is going to take several days for them to feel sick.”

Several health officials have tied the outbreak to romaine lettuce in Yuma since most leafy greens are grown in this area during the winter, but officials say do not eat romaine lettuce unless there is a sticker attached to it from the grower and location.