Calif. romaine lettuce growers adopt new labels

PHOENIX – Romaine lettuce is being tagged with new consumer-protection labels to help reassure people that it is safe to eat after a nationwide E. coli outbreak.

Lettuce growers in California and southern Arizona say the temporary labels will list where romaine lettuce was grown and when it was harvested.

That way, consumers will know what they’re buying did not come from a contaminated region.

Industry associations are billing the move as a voluntary effort. But they acknowledged Tuesday it was the only way to get federal health officials to back off a blanket warning against eating any romaine lettuce.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday the outbreak was traced to farms on California’s central coast and said lettuce from other regions was uncontaminated.

Industry officials said restoring confidence after three E. coli outbreaks this year were tied to romaine will not be easy, even as newly harvested and labeled romaine begins arriving in stores.

“We know it’s going to be an uphill battle to win back consumer trust,” Mary Coppola, United Fresh Produce Association’s senior director of marketing and communication, said Tuesday.

Two days before Thanksgiving, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised consumers, restaurants and retailers to throw out all types of romaine lettuce: That included whole heads, hearts, bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes. Baby romaine, spring mixes and Caesar salads also were listed as dangerous.

The outbreak has sickened 43 people in 12 states.