Check out the above chart showing the shortfall in shipments of romaine in early December compared with a year ago.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that Dec. 4 f.o.b. prices for romaine were $23 to $29 per carton for 24s, compared with just $7-9 per carton the same time a year ago.
The following statement is from Nov. 20, but bears a look if you haven’t seen it.
From Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., chair of the Congressional Food Safety Caucus and senior Democrat on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
She issued the statement after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned the public to avoid eating romaine lettuce due to an E. coli outbreak that has caused 32 people to fall in at 11 states, including Connecticut.
“This is the third E. coli related outbreak linked to romaine lettuce just this year. That is unacceptable. While I welcome the broad announcement from the CDC to warn consumers to avoid eating romaine lettuce in all forms, the agency and FDA have clearly not learned their lesson from previous outbreaks. We must do better. Instead, the Trump administration has shown that food safety is not a priority by delaying crucial provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)—like the produce safety rule— and shortchanging food safety resources through their budget requests. Making food safety a priority would be a significant step toward ensuring the food Americans buy and feed to their families is safe.”
Other recent media coverage; From The Hill: The food science deficit — romaine lettuce is just the tip of the iceberg
From Cooking Light: Lettuce Is Twice as Expensive, Thanks to Romaine E. coli Outbreak
From USDA: Hong Kong Bans Imports and Sales of California Romaine Lettuce and Japan to Hold U.S. Romaine Lettuce
