Hold the Lettuce on My Burger

Salinas, CAIt seems that not even a week goes by without a potential foodborne illness outbreak. "Eat Your Greens" may not be such good advice: On July 21, 2009, a California company recalled its romaine lettuce after the Department of Agriculture found lettuce in Wisconsin that was contaminated with salmonella.

Salinas produce giant Tanimura & Antle Inc. announced a voluntarily recall of 22,000 cartons of bulk and wrapped romaine harvested between June 25 and July 2. Originally the recall involved retail, wholesale and food service outlets in 29 states but the company has now expanded the recall to all 50 states. The romaine was also shipped to Canada and Puerto Rico. The initial recall included Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The company said the lot code is 531380.

According to the Monterey County Herald, the company learned its romaine lettuce tested positive for salmonella bacteria after the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture conducted random tests. When a strain of salmonella shows up as a result of random tests, it makes you wonder how much contaminated food is not tested and bacteria such as e.coli and salmonella could be lurking in our refrigerators...

Tanimura & Antle said it is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to alert consumers and that the entire batch was traced within hours. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting tests to determine what strain of salmonella is involved.

This recall isn't the first for Tanimura & Antle. In 2006 its iceberg lettuce was recalled and the company apparently strengthened its food-safety rules after the fresh produce industry was hit with foodborne illness outbreaks from spinach and shredded lettuce tainted with E. coli. Those outbreaks sickened hundreds of people and caused three deaths. In October, 2008 E. coli-tainted iceberg lettuce was suspected to have sickened 36 people in Michigan and in October 2005, The Salinas Californian reported that E. coli ended up in Dole-brand salads in Minnesota.

Foodborne illness can develop within 12 to 72 hours. Although there have been no illnesses reported, food poisoning is often mistaken for the 'flu. As well, a spokesperson for the company said the salmonella-tainted lettuce has been removed from the marketplace but consumers may still have the romaine in their refrigerators.

Symptoms of food poisoning are typically diarrhea and fever but salmonella poisoning is serious and has the potential to be fatal in young children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.