Multistate E. Coli Outbreak Traced To Lettuce From Arizona
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Consumer Reports is recommending that consumers avoid all romaine lettuce following a multistate E. coli outbreak that has sickened nearly three dozen people.
The Centers for Disease Control said last week that 35 people across 11 states have become ill from chopped romaine lettuce from Yuma, Arizona. Twenty-two of them have been hospitalized, including three with kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.
The agency has not identified a common grower, supplier, distributor or brand. But officials advise that consumers, restaurants and retailers should throw out any chopped romaine lettuce that came from the Yuma area.
On its website, the CDC says consumers who have "store-bought chopped romaine lettuce at home, including salads and salad mixes containing chopped romaine lettuce, should not eat it and should throw it away."
The CDC says you can buy romaine if you can confirm it didn't come from the Yuma region but Consumer Reports says it may be difficult to determine. It is recommending that all romaine lettuce be avoided for now.
Symptoms of E. coli infection include diarrhea, severe stomach cramps and vomiting.
Yuma bills itself as the "winter lettuce capital" and hosts an annual Lettuce Festival.
For more information from the CDC, click here.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
