Shar­lene Ram­per­sad

The Min­istry of Health is warn­ing con­sumers not to eat ro­maine let­tuce grown in the Sali­nas Cal­i­for­nia grow­ing re­gion, amidst in­ter­na­tion­al re­ports of an e.Coli out­break.

In a re­lease yes­ter­day, the Min­istry al­so or­dered that re­tail­ers should not sell any ro­maine let­tuce, in­clud­ing all use-by dates and brands of ro­maine let­tuce from this re­gion.

The ad­vi­so­ry was first is­sued by the US Cen­tre for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion (CDC) af­ter an out­break of a spe­cif­ic strain of e.Coli (Es­cherichia coli O157: H7), which is a serotype of the bac­te­ria. Peo­ple with e.Coli can de­vel­op kid­ney fail­ure.

As for ro­maine let­tuce that has al­ready been pur­chased from the af­fect­ed re­gion, the min­istry ad­vis­es that the pro­duce be dis­card­ed or re­turned to the place of pur­chase.

If you are un­sure whether a sal­ad mix or wrap con­tains ro­maine, the prod­uct should ei­ther be dis­card­ed or re­turned to the sell­er. The min­istry al­so ad­vis­es that all re­frig­er­a­tors where ro­maine has been stored should be thor­ough­ly cleaned and sani­tised.

These re­stric­tions will be in place un­til the min­istry clears the prod­uct for sale and the re­lease says al­though there have been re­port­ed cas­es in T&T of peo­ple eat­ing ro­maine and be­com­ing ill, the min­istry is tak­ing every pre­cau­tion nec­es­sary to pro­tect con­sumers. If you want more in­for­ma­tion on this is­sue, you can con­tact the Chem­istry Food and Drugs Di­vi­sion of the Min­istry at 623-5242/623-CFDD or email cfdd@health.gov.tt.