Authored By: Alicia Lammers

The most recent E. coli outbreak has sickened almost 80 people in the U.S. and Canada. In recent updates, the FDA and CDC has warned consumers on avoiding romaine that was grown or harvested in “…the Central Coast growing regions of central and northern California”.

The following areas according to the FDA are those that are not infected with E. coli currently at this time:

• The desert growing region near Yuma, Arizona
• California counties: Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Riverside County, Santa Cruz, and Imperial County.
• Florida
• Mexico

The best way to be sure your romaine is not infected or came from a region not impacted by E. coli is to check for the voluntary label. Many romaine growers are putting where the romaine was grown and harvested to keep consumers safe. According to the FDA, ”Consumers should look for signs in stores where labels are not an option. If signs or labels do not have this information, you should not eat or use it”. If you are unsure of where your romaine was harvested it is suggested by the FDA and CDC that you should throw your romaine out.

According to the CDC, romaine should not be eaten from the California counties including: Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Barbara.

For more information on the Romaine recall and voluntary labeling, click here to visit our previous blog.

For even more information on the recall, click here or click here.