National food quality regulators this week recalled romaine lettuce grown in Salinas, California, and sold at local grocers in an attempt to curb a nationwide E. coli outbreak.
Employees for at least three Durango grocery stores – City Market south, Albertsons and Walmart – said Saturday that management was aware of the recall and have since pulled the potentially contaminated product from store shelves.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday night that at least 40 people have been infected with E. coli nationwide, an outbreak the national agency linked to romaine lettuce grown in the Salinas, California, region. Of the reported cases, 28 have led to hospitalization. At least one person has been infected in Colorado, according to the CDC.
The first recorded E. coli infection related to Salinas, California-grown romaine lettuce was reported Sept. 24. Public health officials said the strain of E. coli in people infected “is closely related genetically” to the germs found on the romaine lettuce.
The CDC has not linked the outbreak to a “common grower, supplier, distributor or brand of romaine lettuce” and advises consumers not to eat romaine lettuce harvested from the Salinas area.
Most romaine lettuce products are labeled with growing regions. The CDC recall cautions against consuming “whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and packages of precut lettuce and salad mixes which contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad,” grown in the Salinas region.
While symptoms vary among individuals, they “often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody) and vomiting.” Many people feel better after five to seven days, but in some cases, the infection can lead to kidney failure, which can be life threatening.
“Contact your health care provider if you have diarrhea that lasts for more than three days or diarrhea that is accompanied by a fever higher than 102˚F, blood in the stool, or so much vomiting that you cannot keep liquids down and you pass very little urine,” according to the CDC.
The CDC advises anyone who may have bought potentially infected lettuce to dispose of the product and clean refrigerators where the produce was stored. Public health officials linked the most recent outbreak to romaine recalls in 2018 and leafy green recalls in 2017.
