US CONSUMERS URGED TO TOSS LETTUCE AMID E COLI FEARS

PHOENIX: US health officials told consumers last weekend to throw away any store-bought romaine lettuce they had in their kitchens and warned restaurants not to serve it amid an E coli outbreak that made more than 50 people sick in several states.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention expanded its warning about tainted romaine from Arizona, saying information from new illnesses led it to caution against eating any forms of the lettuce that may have come from the city of Yuma.

Officials this week were still trying to determine the origin of the contaminated vegetables.

Previously, CDC officials had only warned against chopped romaine by itself or as part of salads and salad mixes. But they then extended the risk to heads or hearts of romaine lettuce.

People at a correctional facility in Alaska reported feeling ill after eating from whole heads of romaine lettuce.

The greens were traced to lettuce harvested in the

Yuma region, according to the

CDC.

So far, the outbreak had infected 53 people in 16 states. At least

31 had landed in hospital, including five with kidney failure. No deaths were reported.

Symptoms of E coli infection include diarrhoea, severe stomach cramps and vomiting.

The CDC’S updated advisory said consumers nationwide should not buy or eat romaine lettuce from a grocery store or restaurant unless they can get confirmation it did not come from Yuma.

People should also toss any romaine they had at home unless they could be certain it didn’t come from the affected area, the agency said.

Restaurants and retailers were warned not to serve or sell romaine lettuce from Yuma.

Romaine grown in coastal and central California, Florida and central Mexico was not at risk, according to the Produce Marketing Association.

The Yuma region, which is roughly 300km south-west of Phoenix and close to the Californian border, is referred to as the US’S “winter vegetable capital”.

It is known for its agriculture and often revels in it with events like a lettuce festival.

Steve Alameda, president of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association, which represents local growers, said that the outbreak had weighed heavily on him and other farmers.

“We want to know what happened,” Alameda said. “We can’t afford to lose consumer confidence.

“It’s heartbreaking. We take this very personally.”

Growers in Yuma typically plant romaine lettuce between September and January.

During the peak of the harvest season, which runs from midnovember until the beginning of April, the Yuma region supplies most of the romaine sold in the US, Alameda said.

The outbreak came as the harvest of romaine was already near its end.

While Alameda has not met anyone from the CDC, he is reviewing his own business. He is going over food safety practices and auditing operations in the farming fields. – Ap/african News Agency/ana