CDC and FDA launch E. coli outbreak investigation for Nature's Basket Power Greens and Simple Truth Organic Power Greens

The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating illnesses in a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7. According to the CDC, as of January 6, 2022, 10 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from four states. Consumer purchase data indicate that seven people purchased Nature's Basket Power Greens or Simple Truth Organic Power Greens at grocery stores before becoming sick. Based on those purchase dates, the latest “best if used by” date is estimated to be December 20, 2021. These two salad blends consist of organic spinach, mizuna, kale, and chard; both brands were manufactured by the same processor.

FDA has initiated a traceback investigation on the products of interest. To date, no single production code has been identified by the traceback. For the estimated production code range that may have been available for purchase to ill consumers, records collected indicate that leafy greens used in these products were sourced from Salinas and Imperial Valley, CA, and Yuma, AZ. FDA continues to evaluate the available information to determine if a single source, such as a farm or ranch, can be identified. Some challenges encountered in this traceback are those often seen in tracing back leafy greens. These include multiple consumer purchases of the same product on different days, lack of product lot codes tracked to retail stores from distribution centers, and the inability to directly link product lot codes to consumer purchase data. Additionally, the range of possible production dates falls into the harvest transition period from central and northern CA to southern CA and AZ growing regions, and as this product has multiple components, some production days of the product include ingredients co-mingled from multiple growing regions.

At this time, the available evidence does not indicate that there are implicated products currently on the market. FDA and state partners are continuing to work with firms of interest to determine if there are additional or unexpired products that could potentially be affected. This is an ongoing investigation and additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Recommendation

Although this product is past expiration and should no longer be available for purchase, if consumers froze Nature’s Basket or Simple Truth Power Greens salad blend with a “Best if Used By” date through December 20, 2021, they should discard it.