It is safe to eat some romaine lettuce again, US health officials have said. Just check the label.
The US Food and Drug Administration narrowed its blanket warning from last week, when it said people should not eat any romaine lettuce because of an E coli outbreak.
The agency on Monday said the romaine lettuce linked to the outbreak appears to be from California’s Central Coast region. It said romaine lettuce from elsewhere should soon be labeled with harvest dates and regions, so people know it is safe to eat.
People should not eat romaine lettuce that does not have the label information, the agency said.
For romaine lettuce that does not come in packaging, grocers and retailers are being asked to post the information by the register.
Romaine lettuce harvesting has begun shifting from California’s Central Coast to winter growing areas, primarily Arizona, Florida, Mexico and California’s Imperial Valley. Those winter regions were not yet shipping when the illnesses began.
The agency also noted hydroponically grown romaine lettuce and romaine lettuce grown in greenhouses are not implicated in the E coli outbreak.
The labeling arrangement was worked out as the produce industry called on the agency to quickly narrow the scope of its warning so it would not have to waste freshly harvested romaine lettuce.
An industry group said people can expect to start seeing labels as early as this week.
The agency said the industry had committed to making the labeling standard for romaine lettuce and to consider longer-term labeling options for other leafy greens.
The agency still has not identified a source of contamination in the latest outbreak. There have been no reported deaths, but health officials say 43 people in 12 states have been sickened.
Twenty-two people in Canada were also sickened.
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