11 ms·

It seems like no one learned anything after the last one 5 months ago: https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o15

It seems like no one learned anything after the last one 5 months ago: https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html IIRC the first outbreak was from farmers in Yuma watering their fields with water that had been contaminated by runoff from a large cattle farm upstream. (The article says the two aren't related, but it seems like more than a coincidence unless romaine lettuce is more succeptible to contracting and retaining e. coli somehow..)

pkaye 8y ago
The way the leaves are bunched together makes it hard to clean. And secondly it is not cooked before eating.
- craftyguy 8y ago
  That's a property of most (all?) lettuces, but here we are with two romaine-related instances in 5 months.
  - jaggederest 8y ago
    Interestingly enough, bean sprouts are eaten raw, are not (thoroughly) cleaned before eating, and must be, by definition, held at an unsafe temperature to sprout. They also cause a bunch of foodborne illness. I think it's a pretty clear connection.
    - selimthegrim 8y ago
      I blanch bean sprouts before freezing them for storage and then toss them in something I’m frying or boiling. Seems to work for me.
      - VectorLock 8y ago
        So you eat them not raw.
        selimthegrim 8y ago
        I might toss a few onto something I’m having by chance right then but I typically by them in advance of when I need them and don’t want to have them rot in the fridge
    - adrianmonk 8y ago
      Sure, but why not other types of lettuce like red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce, or butter lettuce?
  - ip26 8y ago
    Apparently Romaine is grown in exactly two places, one for summer and one for winter.
    - kencausey 8y ago
      I believe the word 'regions' would be more appropriate.
andyburke 8y ago
Isn't it more susceptible? The structure of Romaine is such that contaminants can fairly easily get "inside", but are not easily washed away.
windexh8er 8y ago
Consumer Reports had a more thorough article than the short write up by the CDC. I find it frustrating the CDC blanket points the fjnger at lettuce without disclosing root cause. People confuse the fact that plants are not the source, animal feces is (most likely in this case). Just as s it was last time... https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/what-growers-are-doing-to-keep-romaine-lettuce-safe-to-eat/ https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/what-growers-are...
- village-idiot 8y ago
  But it's still correct to be wary of plants, the fact that you typically eat them raw makes them the most common source of infection.
  - windexh8er 8y ago
    Growing lettuce in your garden bears very few risks. Buying lettuce from a store also carriers very free risks if you know the source. Plants are significantly less risk than any red meat or white meat. The way the CDC presents this makes it appear, to the uniformed, that this is a plant borne illness - of which it is not. It's almost certain it is human created through misuse of fecal matter disposal or fertilizer.
    - vel0city 8y ago
      I am pretty much always going to throw a cut of meat on the grill or in a pan on the stove. This action brings the food up to a temperature where it tends to kill/denature a lot of the bad bugs in the food. I'm likely to just rinse off an apple or lettuce, which may or may not successfully clean the food.
      - windexh8er 8y ago
        "Tends to kill". So you're saying you always cook all meats at or above recommended internal temperatures? Most people don't enjoy meat overcooked / well done - and that is the conflicting reference point here. Do you eat your steak even medium-well? Then it's not guaranteed to be free from food borne illness and not cooked according to safe food handling instructions by said CDC. Apples are far less likely to ever carry pathogens because they're harvested from a tree, off the ground and tree farms are not fertilized with feces. And even if they are in proximity you're failing to understand that if a tree has a contaminated water source the entire tree acts as a filter prior to the fruit - a lettuce does not. Again, misinformation and misunderstanding of the root cause showcase highly in your comment which was my criticism of the original disclosure by the CDC.

pkaye 8y ago

The way the leaves are bunched together makes it hard to clean. And secondly it is not cooked before eating.

craftyguy 8y ago
That's a property of most (all?) lettuces, but here we are with two romaine-related instances in 5 months.
- jaggederest 8y ago
  Interestingly enough, bean sprouts are eaten raw, are not (thoroughly) cleaned before eating, and must be, by definition, held at an unsafe temperature to sprout. They also cause a bunch of foodborne illness. I think it's a pretty clear connection.
  - selimthegrim 8y ago
    I blanch bean sprouts before freezing them for storage and then toss them in something I’m frying or boiling. Seems to work for me.
    - VectorLock 8y ago
      So you eat them not raw.
      - selimthegrim 8y ago
        I might toss a few onto something I’m having by chance right then but I typically by them in advance of when I need them and don’t want to have them rot in the fridge
  - adrianmonk 8y ago
    Sure, but why not other types of lettuce like red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce, or butter lettuce?
- ip26 8y ago
  Apparently Romaine is grown in exactly two places, one for summer and one for winter.
  - kencausey 8y ago
    I believe the word 'regions' would be more appropriate.

andyburke 8y ago

Isn't it more susceptible? The structure of Romaine is such that contaminants can fairly easily get "inside", but are not easily washed away.

windexh8er 8y ago

Consumer Reports had a more thorough article than the short write up by the CDC. I find it frustrating the CDC blanket points the fjnger at lettuce without disclosing root cause. People confuse the fact that plants are not the source, animal feces is (most likely in this case). Just as s it was last time... https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/what-growers-are-doing-to-keep-romaine-lettuce-safe-to-eat/ https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/what-growers-are...

village-idiot 8y ago
But it's still correct to be wary of plants, the fact that you typically eat them raw makes them the most common source of infection.
- windexh8er 8y ago
  Growing lettuce in your garden bears very few risks. Buying lettuce from a store also carriers very free risks if you know the source. Plants are significantly less risk than any red meat or white meat. The way the CDC presents this makes it appear, to the uniformed, that this is a plant borne illness - of which it is not. It's almost certain it is human created through misuse of fecal matter disposal or fertilizer.
  - vel0city 8y ago
    I am pretty much always going to throw a cut of meat on the grill or in a pan on the stove. This action brings the food up to a temperature where it tends to kill/denature a lot of the bad bugs in the food. I'm likely to just rinse off an apple or lettuce, which may or may not successfully clean the food.
    - windexh8er 8y ago
      "Tends to kill". So you're saying you always cook all meats at or above recommended internal temperatures? Most people don't enjoy meat overcooked / well done - and that is the conflicting reference point here. Do you eat your steak even medium-well? Then it's not guaranteed to be free from food borne illness and not cooked according to safe food handling instructions by said CDC. Apples are far less likely to ever carry pathogens because they're harvested from a tree, off the ground and tree farms are not fertilized with feces. And even if they are in proximity you're failing to understand that if a tree has a contaminated water source the entire tree acts as a filter prior to the fruit - a lettuce does not. Again, misinformation and misunderstanding of the root cause showcase highly in your comment which was my criticism of the original disclosure by the CDC.