The bacteria Escherichia coli O157:H7 (short for E. coli O157:H7) is outbreaking our hearts of Romaine again. In fact, not just the hearts, but all of Romaine lettuce. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a stern warning: don’t sell, don’t buy, don’t serve, and don’t eat any Romaine lettuce. And if you have it, get rid of it.
That’s because the CDC strongly suspects that Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 has contaminated supplies of Romaine lettuce but can’t yet pinpoint which supplies and where this may have occurred. There’s already been at least 32 reported cases from 11 states, resulting in 13 people being hospitalized and one suffering hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious condition.
