Recent E. coli outbreak leads to recalls of sandwiches, cauliflower and lettuce
Four days after the investigation of the latest romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak led to Adam Bros. Farms in Santa Barbara, California, Adam Bros. recalled red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce and cauliflower.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its romaine lettuce consumption advice, saying U.S. consumers should “not eat and retailers and restaurants not serve or sell any romaine lettuce harvested from certain counties in the Central Coastal growing regions of northern and central California (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Barbara). If you do not know where the romaine is from, do not eat it.”
Near Adam Bros. Farms’ Santa Barbara farms is where the FDA claims it found reservoir sediment that tested positive for the same E. coli in the outbreak.
“Filtered and treated water from the reservoir may have come in contact with the produce after it was harvested,” Adam Bros. admitted in its company-written, FDA-posted recall notice.
In announcing this last Thursday, the FDA cautioned this trail ending at Adam Bros. Farms doesn’t cover all the sicknesses and “our traceback work suggests that additional romaine lettuce shipped from other farms could also likely be implicated in the outbreak.”
But, for now, only Adam Bros. has been fingered and initiated a recall.
The recalled cauliflower went to wholesale distributors in California, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania in the United States, and Tijuana, Mexico and Canada internationally. The lettuce went to Minnesota and Tijuana (red leaf lettuce only) and wholesale distributors in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Canada (green and red leaf lettuce).
Carton and pallet tag numbers can be found by clicking here, on the recall notice.
Also, Spokane Produce recalled Northwest Cuisine Creations, Fresh & Local brand sandwiches and Green Leaf Filets lettuce, all of which contain recalled Adam Bros. vegetables. Best by dates on these recalled products range from Dec. 14 through Dec. 21.
Northwest Cuisine Creations recalled sandwiches: Italian Hoagie; Turkey Swiss; Ham and Cheese; Turkey, Bacon and Cheddar; Roast Beef with Pepper Jack; Club Sandwich; Tuscan Turkey; Tuscan Ham; Roast Beef Hoagie; and Turkey Hoagie with Avocado Spread.
Fresh & Local recalled sandwiches: Italian Hoagie; Turkey Swiss; Ham and Cheese; Turkey, Bacon and Cheddar; Club Sandwich; Tuscan Turkey; Tuscan Ham; and Turkey Hoagie with Avocado Spread.
“We are taking extreme precautionary measures,” Spokane Produce spokesperson Dan Petek said via the recall notice. “To date, there have been no cases of E coli or contamination from any Adam Bros. green leaf lettuce. In complete regard for the public at large and our customers, we believe it is prudent at this point to be proactive and call in all product.”
Also Tuesday, the CDC announced another seven E. coli O157:H7 cases, bringing the outbreak total to 59 over 15 states and the District of Columbia.
Of those 59 sick, 23 have been hospitalized and two have developed the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the form of kidney failure that can make E. coli a deadly matter. No deaths have been reported, however, in the United States or Canada, where E. coli with the same DNA fingerprint has sickened 28 people.
This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 6:46 PM.
