Romaine lettuce is back in the mix after E. coli outbreak
For a while, it was hard to find on store shelves even after end of scare
Broccoli. Brussel sprouts. Cabbage. And kale — lots of kale.
“I’m going to get this chopped kale kit,” said Edna Wells of Waterford — a self-described health and fitness nut with no time for iceberg lettuce — after scanning the produce section at BJ’s Wholesale Club on Monday. “The thing with romaine is it’s so easy to make a healthy salad for everybody. Without romaine, the choices left are iceberg, which doesn’t have the nutrients, and some people don’t like spinach, and some people don’t like kale.”
Romaine remained scarce in local stores and restaurants more than a week after the federal government announced that an E. coli outbreak linked to the lettuce had infected 43 people in 12 states. In a sweeping advisory issued two days before Thanksgiving, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers not to buy or eat the Caesar salad staple.
But after the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said last week that they’d traced the outbreak to romaine grown in parts of northern and central California, distributors have been shipping romaine grown elsewhere to local grocers and eateries.
“Our distributor is only sending us romaine from Florida and Arizona, so all the romaine we’re getting is safe and that includes the clamshells and mixed lettuces,” Rachel Watrous, the fresh department manager of Fiddleheads Food Co-Op, said Tuesday.
Watrous said many customers are “worried about all the lettuce. So we try to give them as much information as we have, and encourage them to look at what the CDC is putting out and to really educate themselves about where it’s coming from, and look at labels and packages. If they’re eating local, then they definitely know it’s safe.”
Fiddleheads’ workers posted signs in the produce section noting the FDA released romaine grown in Florida, Mexico and Arizona, provided it is labeled with the date and region of harvest.
At the Groton Stop & Shop on Tuesday morning, customers could find romaine with labeling showing it was grown in Yuma, Ariz., and harvested after Nov. 26, when the CDC and FDA narrowed its warning to a half-dozen counties in California.
On Monday, the East Lyme Stop & Shop still had many empty spots where romaine had been pulled, with signage noting the federal advisory and letting customers know the store “voluntarily removed any romaine lettuce products ... in an abundance of caution.”
But Stop & Shop spokeswoman Cindy Carrasquilla said locations throughout the area have been busy restocking romaine, and customers have been buying it as soon as it hits the shelves.
“Stop & Shop has worked with our suppliers to verify that all romaine lettuce products available in our stores as of Monday, Dec. 3rd, are grown in regions cleared by the FDA and CDC as not impacted by the recent do not eat advisory,” she said.
Behind the counter at NV Bakery and Market in Waterford, Sallee Brown said switching to iceberg during romaine’s hiatus was not an option; neither was cutting out salads altogether.
“We sell a ton of salads. It’s half the business,” she said. “We switched to Boston and Bibb lettuce. It’s a hydroponic lettuce, grows with the root ... it’s a little tiny head of lettuce and it’s way more flavorful than iceberg. Almost tastes like romaine.”
Just like NV, Two Wives Brick Oven and Eatery received new romaine lettuce just days ago, after more than 10 days of leaving fans of Caesar, gorgonzola and panzanella salads wanting.
“We’re back to serving Caesar salads again,” Two Wives’ Kim Yacovou said on Tuesday, adding that most customers over the last week were aware of the national advisory and simply said, “Oh yeah, we don’t want it,” when servers mentioned that romaine was off the table.
While romaine is back in business locally and only one person in Connecticut was infected with the strain of E. coli in the recent outbreak, state Department of Consumer Protection still urges caution.
“If somebody needs romaine lettuce for that holiday dish, just be sure to make sure to check the label and you know the origin,” said Lora Rae Anderson, spokeswoman for the DCP. “The thing to do to be safest is to just avoid it for a while in case one shipment got mixed with another. But if a grocery store has a label, there’s no reason to panic. And the fresher the better.”