FDA Releases Overview of the Latest Romaine Lettuce E. coli Outbreak
Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an overview of the investigation of the romaine lettuce outbreak of Escherichia. coli O157:H7 infections in multiple U.S. states and Canadian provinces in late 2018 and early 2019.
The investigation, which included FDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state partners, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, implicated one source of the outbreak: Adams Bros. Farming located in Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County), CA. At that farm, investigators found an environmental sample that tested positive for the presence of the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7. While there is no evidence to indicate that this farm is the sole source, the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 was not detected in any other samples collected during this investigation.