E. coli Outbreak sickens 19 people in 3 states
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday, that a Freshway Foods “is recalling lettuce sold in 23 states and the District of Columbia because of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 19 people, three of them with life-threatening symptoms.” (M. C. Jalonick, AP Wasington, 5/7).
Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, “said it was recalling romaine lettuce sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands because of a possible link to the E. coli outbreak.” Although the source of the outbreak is unclear at this time, the FDA is concentrating its investigation on lettuce grown in Arizona.
The lettuce was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the 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 and has a use by date of May 12.
Many are frustrated with the political roadblocks that reforming food standards had faced, as “the House passed a bill last year that would give the agency much more authority to police food production, but the Senate has not acted on it.”
As a products liability attorney, I am hopeful that Congress will act quickly to give the FDA greater policing power over food production as is necessary to ensure the food that is sold is safe.
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