The Ohio romaine outbreak has sickened 12 people with E. coli O157:H7 infections, making it the state with the second most illnesses after Wisconsin, with 33 cases as of December 9, 2019. Overall, at least 102 people are sick across the country, with 58 hospitalized and 10 who have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a type of kidney failure.
Most romaine products, including baby romaine, chopped romaine, organic romaine, hearts of romaine, romaine in salad wraps, salad bowl kits, sandwiches, packages of precut lettuce, and salad mixes that contain romaine, may be marked with the growing region. This is a voluntary policy put into place after last year’s two romaine E. coli O157:H7 HUS outbreaks. If the label says “Salinas” anywhere, or if the package is unmarked, don’t eat the romaine.
The CDC and FDA have stated that there is one grower associated with all three E. coli O157:H7 romaine outbreaks that are ongoing, but that grower has not been named. Officials have inspected three farms in the Salinas region, but has not named those.
