INGLÊS – Ciências Biológicas, Ciências Agrárias, Ciências da Saúde – EDITAL 01/2018 – JUN
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WHEN IS IT SAFE TO EAT SALAD AGAIN?
For lovers of leafy greens, these are not salad days. A multistate outbreak of E. coli infections has been
linked to bags of chopped romaine lettuce, and information from different sources about the risk has
been confusing, making many of us scared to eat salad.
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the outbreak has grown to 53
cases in 16 states — that’s 18 more sick people since April 13. Fortunately nobody has died, but nearly
70 percent of those infected have been hospitalized with a nasty toxin-producing strain of E. coli, and
several have developed kidney failure. The C.D.C. has not identified the exact source of the outbreak, but
experts suspect that it came from the Yuma, Arizona region. As a result, the agency is advising
consumers to avoid all bagged, chopped romaine lettuce in grocery stores and restaurants that was
grown there.
But here’s the catch. Bagged salad doesn’t typically list the region where it was grown and processed.
And most of the cases so far have come from restaurants. And lots of leafy greens look alike. How do you
even know if your bag of mixed greens contains romaine? Both the C.D.C. and Consumer Reports agree
that if you don’t know for sure what’s in your salad, don’t eat it. But Consumer Reports thinks the
C.D.C.’s advice is “impractical” and is now urging consumers to avoid all romaine lettuce, whether it is
bagged or not.
Here’s a little salad trivia for you. Most of the bagged romaine grown in North America for grocery
stores and restaurants comes from Salinas Valley in California. But in late fall and winter, the industry
moves to Yuma, Arizona. Given the time frame of the outbreak, it’s pretty clear that the infected romaine
must have come from Yuma, but other than that, little is known about the source of the outbreak. It’s
most likely from an animal (cow, deer or wild pig). It could have come from an animal defecating in a
field or water runoff contaminated with E. coli. The good news is that this month, most of the industry’s
bagged romaine production has shifted back to California. However, it’s likely that Yuma-sourced
bagged romaine is still in the food supply.
Consumers wonder when they can start eating bagged romaine again. Lettuce has a short shelf life and a
lot of retailers have taken bagged romaine off shelves. “Hopefully with it being in one particular growing
region and that region moving to California, it won’t be too much longer,” said Laura Gieraltowski, who
leads the C.D.C.’s food-borne outbreak response team. That said, she urged consumers to wait for the all-
clear from the C.D.C. before eating chopped romaine.
“It’s a fast–moving outbreak,” she said. “We’re getting reports of new illness daily from our state and
local health departments.”
INGLÊS – Ciências Biológicas, Ciências Agrárias, Ciências da Saúde – EDITAL 01/2018 – JUN
Escherichia coli is in our intestines, the environment, foods and animals, but most of the time it doesn’t
make you sick. However, this particular strain — Shiga toxin-producing E. coli 0157:H7 — is
particularly dangerous. Symptoms appear from one to 10 days after eating and can vary, but may
include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. While the people affected range in age
from 10 to 85 years, the median age is 34 — meaning the bug is making otherwise healthy, strong
people really sick. The hospitalization rate for E. coli illness is typically around 30 percent, but this
strain has put 67 percent of the cases in the hospital. Five people have developed hemolytic uremic
syndrome, a type of kidney failure. Given delays in reporting, those numbers are expected to grow.
The other concern is that unlike a recent multistate outbreak of salmonella in eggs, which resulted in a
recall of a specific egg product, no specific grower, supplier or brand has been identified as the source of
the romaine outbreak.
Infections linked to the outbreak have been found in 16 states, illustrating how widely bags of romaine
are distributed around the country. You can find a list of states where cases have been reported on the
C.D.C. website. Most of the reported cases have come from Pennsylvania (12), Idaho (10), New Jersey
(7), Montana (6) and Arizona (3). New York, Connecticut, Ohio and Michigan have had two cases each,
with one case each in Alaska, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state.
Most people can’t reliably distinguish romaine from other forms of lettuce, Ms. Halloran said. A head of
