My wife said she stopped to pick up our favorite deli chopped salad from a local grocer last night, only to be told that because of chopped romaine being implicated in the E. coli outbreak, the grocer wasn’t selling the tasty salad.
That was both irritating and reassuring, I suppose.
Even though grocers and foodservice operators are acting with “an abundance of caution,” the common consumer can’t help but be dismayed with the blip in romaine supply and news about illnesses and lawsuits. Romaine marketers are probably going out of their minds waiting for more definitive news from federal authorities about the brand involved in the outbreak.
Ashley Nickle of The Packer wrote a story called “What you need to know about the outbreak linked to romaine” and the story continues to attract a huge audience, both in the industry and among consumers wanting answers
Twitter is full of advice about the outbreak(#romaine, #ecoli):
Dr. Rima Khabbaz (@DrKhabbazCDC) Director of CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases tweeted “Outbreak Alert: 35 people sick in 11 states with E. coli infections linked to chopped romaine lettuce. Don’t eat any store-bought chopped #romaine, including salad mixes with romaine, in your fridge. Throw it away. http://go.usa.gov/xQbwT”
Consumer Reports, in an April 17 report headlined “Avoid Eating Romaine Lettuce Again, Consumer Reports Says,” the group is advising consumers to “avoid all “romaine lettuce for now”
From Consumer Reports:
A new outbreak of E. coli in 11 states has been linked by government investigators to bagged, chopped romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz. Consumer Reports is recommending—for the second time since January—that consumers avoid all romaine lettuce for now.
Consumer Reports’ advice goes beyond that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is recommending that consumers buy or order bagged romaine lettuce at a supermarket or restaurant only after confirming that it didn’t originate in the Yuma growing region. Investigators haven’t pointed to any particular romaine suppliers or growers, but many domestic greens are grown in the Yuma region at this time of year.
The CDC also advises that if you’ve purchased bagged, chopped romaine lettuce—including salads and salad mixes containing romaine—you should throw it away immediately.
Consumer Reports’ experts believe, however, that it could be difficult for consumers to determine where the romaine they purchase is from, which is why they believe it’s best to avoid the lettuce altogether.
“Consumer Reports is making this recommendation given the potentially fatal consequences of E. coli, the fact that there are still several unknowns about this outbreak, and that no type of romaine has been ruled definitively safe by government officials,” says James E. Rogers, Ph.D., director of food safety research and testing at Consumer Reports. “While we are making this decision out of an abundance of caution, this warning is particularly important for vulnerable people like the elderly, pregnant women, and young children.”
Google Trends, on April 18, listed the top search terms related to romaine in the last week as:
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Ugh, that’s awful. As the story drags on, each day that there is no clarification as to the brands involved takes a greater toll on consumer confidence in leafy greens as a category.
Here is a question I asked the LinkedIn Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group:
Crisis management during outbreaks - what can the industry do better?
Is there anything that the industry can do to better respond to foodborne illness outbreaks linked to fresh produce? Should the industry invest in consumer-facing messaging? What association, if any, should step up and speak for the interests of the industry?
What do you think?
