Source of three E. coli outbreaks eludes FDA
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating three E. coli outbreaks, and although each one has a strain associated with current or past outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce, the agency said it has no specific evidence linking the outbreaks to romaine.
The FDA on Nov. 10 confirmed that the third outbreak, with 12 cases in six states, is from a strain that matches tests by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Tanimura & Antle brand romaine. There is not enough epidemiological and traceback information available, however, to determine if people became ill from eating Tanimura & Antle romaine, according to the FDA.
On Nov. 6, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued an advisory to not eat Tanimura & Antle brand romaine packaged as single heads. The same day the Salinas, Calif.-based company recalled single heads of romaine.
Random testing by Michigan’s agriculture department found a sample with E. coli, and more testing by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services laboratory determined the strain is “highly related” to the strain linked to two cases being investigated in Michigan, according to the Nov. 6 advisory from the state’s agriculture department.
Tanimura & Antle’s recall covers almost 4,000 cases of single heads of romaine with the Universal Product Code of 0-27918-20314-9. The Produce Traceability Initiative codes on the cartons are 571280289SRS1 and 571280290SRS1.
“At Tanimura & Antle, food safety is a number-one priority and the company prides itself on its preventative measures,” according to the company’s notice posted on the FDA’s website. “It is unlikely that this product remains at retail establishments due to the shelf life of lettuce and the number of days that have passed.”
The sample was from collected at a Walmart in Comstock Park, according to the Michigan agriculture department. According to the Tanimura & Antle notice, its recall “is based on the test result of a random sample collected and analyzed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as part of their routine sampling program.”
The single heads of romaine were packed on Oct. 15-16, and were shipped to Alaska, Oregon, California, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, New Mexico, South Carolina, Washington, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois and Puerto Rico. The FDA reported that the product could have been further distributed to other states, including Michigan.
The FDA is investigating two other E. coli outbreaks involving separate strains of the pathogen that “are recurring, emerging or persistent strains,” according to an Oct. 28 news release.
Those two strains are “genetically related” to earlier E. coli outbreaks from romaine lettuce:
- One with 21 illnesses and one death that is similar to an outbreak strain traced to Yuma, Ariz.-grown romaine that sickened 210 people and killed five in 2018; and
- One with 23 illnesses that similar to an outbreak strain traced to Salinas, Calif.-grown romaine that sickened 167 people in 2019.
Related story:
Tanimura & Antle recalls romaine, Michigan reports E. coli cases
