Pittsburghers are worried about tainted lettuce
At the Bruegger’s Bagels counter Thursday, Downtown, lunchtime customers weren’t taking any chances in the midst of the recent E. coli outbreak traced to romaine lettuce.
One woman asked what type of lettuce came with her turkey and cream cheese sandwich, saying she wanted to make sure it wasn’t romaine.
“Better to be safe than get E. coli,” said another customer approvingly.
As it turned out, Bruegger’s was already substituting with arugula on its sandwiches because the restaurant’s supplier had stopped sending the suspect romaine.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been urging consumers not to eat romaine lettuce of any kind until further notice unless they can be certain it wasn’t grown in the Yuma, Ariz., region, where investigators believe the tainted lettuce originated. Product labels often do not identify growing regions, the CDC said.
Since the first alert went out April 10, 84 people have been reported ill in 19 states. In Pennsylvania, 18 have been sickened, the most of any state.
While no deaths linked to the contaminated lettuce have been reported, infection with E. coli can be brutal.
Some 42 people have been hospitalized so far, including nine with kidney failure. In Pennsylvania, 11 have been hospitalized, including one with kidney failure.
More people could be contaminated and not know it yet. Most people start feeling sick three to four days after eating or drinking something that contains the bacteria, but illness can start anywhere from one to 10 days after exposure, according to the CDC.
Initially, the government’s warning only involved chopped varieties and salad mixes containing romaine, but on April 20 it was expanded to cover all types, including whole heads and hearts.
The Allegheny County Health Department would not answer questions Thursday about what
actions it might be taking as a result of the outbreak, saying it was asked to refer media calls to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The state’s latest advisory this week urges consumers to throw out romaine lettuce unless they are certain it is not from the Yuma area.
“If you are eating out or buying it at the store, you should ask whether the romaine is from Yuma, Ariz., or another region,” spokesman Nate Wardle said in an email Thursday. “If the staff does not know, we recommend not eating the lettuce.”
The region’s largest grocer, O’Hara-based Giant Eagle, in recent days pulled all types of romaine lettuce off its shelves, spokesman Dick Roberts said Thursday. Roughly two weeks ago, the chain recalled a number of ready-to-go items prepared with romaine, such as chicken Caesar, chef and other salads.
Marshall-based Paragon Foods — a wholesale supplier to local restaurants and other food service operators such as hospitals and schools — said Thursday it had contacted all of its customers to let them know whether they had received any suspect product.
Customers also received instructions on how to identify whether whole heads or hearts of romaine came from Yuma by looking at the label, according to a letter posted on the company’s website.
Anyone who develops severe symptoms of an E. coli infection — such as diarrhea that lasts for more than three days or is accompanied by high fever, blood in the stool or severe vomiting — is being urged to contact their doctor.
For questions about the outbreak, call the state health department at 1-877724-3258.
The CDC has information about the outbreak at https://www.cdc.gov/ ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html.