CDC Adds Mystery to Romaine E. coli Outbreak: Schnucks, Grower and Distributor Not Named in Report
Yesterday, the CDC reported that an E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce has sickened 60 people in 10 states, including Arizona (1), Arkansas (2), Georgia (1), Illinois (9), Indiana (2), Kansas (3), Kentucky (1), Minnesota (3), Missouri (37), and Nebraska (1). This was a large and virulent outbreak--30 people were hospitalized and 2 of them developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), one of the leading causes of kidney failure in the United States.
The outbreak started in early October of this year with reports of E. coli illnesses associated with eating food from salad bars at various Schnucks locations in the St. Louis, MO area. Although it is no secret that Schnucks grocery stores were linked to the outbreak, the CDC referred to Schnucks as "grocery store Chain A" in its outbreak report. Last night Schnucks said the chain is "grocery store Chain A" so why didn't the CDC just use the chain's name? Why the air of mystery?
Even more disturbing is that the CDC did not name the grower or the distributor because that information was not in the news:
The FDA and several state agencies conducted traceback investigations for romaine lettuce to try to identify the source of contamination. Traceback investigations focused on ill persons who had eaten at salad bars at several locations of grocery store Chain A and ill persons at university campuses in Minnesota (1 ill person) and Missouri (2 ill persons). Traceback analysis determined that a single common lot of romaine lettuce harvested from Farm A was used to supply the grocery store Chain A locations as well as the university campus in Minnesota during the time of the illnesses. This lot was also provided to a distributor that supplied lettuce to the university campus in Missouri, but records were not sufficient to determine if this lot was sent to this university campus. Preliminary findings of investigation at Farm A did not identify the source of the contamination. (CDC Nov. 7 Report)
Consumers should be told the names of Farm A and the distributor. Providing this type of information serves as a deterrent to companies by making it a bad public relations move to be sloppy about food safety.
CDC, update your report and name Schnucks, the grower and the distributor.
