Lethal lettuce pulled off shelves, again

(Ian Tragen)

In the United States, certain romaine lettuce products, with a "best if used by" date of May 12 or earlier, have been voluntarily recalled by Freshway Foods in 23 States due to E.coli O145 bacteria contamination, announced the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA).

"So far, 19 cases of E. coli O145 illness have been reported in Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Twelve people have been hospitalized, including three with life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by the bacterium."

This isn't the first times greens have made North Americans ill, spinach and various types of lettuce have also been recalled due to salmonella and E.coli bacteria contamination throughout Canada and the US repeatedly over the past five years. People have even died, bagged lettuce maybe convenient but its proving to not be healthy with multiple foodborne illness outbreaks.

This comes days after 43 children's over the counter medicines were also voluntarily recalled with the support of the FDA.

To date the shredded romaine lettuce has been recalled in Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, explained a Freshways Foods announcement.

Should you experience any early symptoms associated with E.coli infection like mild diarrhea and abdominal cramps contact a health professional immediately especially if you recently ate an in-store salad bar and deli that may have purchased Freshway Foods or is supplied with Imperial Sysco brands including these markets: Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets and Marsh.

For more information on e.Coli and foodborne related illnesses, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli