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CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

cdc.gov

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Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#41

Post by krackers »

garysahota93 wrote: post #22

It seems like this happens all the time. I really wonder what the implications of this will be to companies like Chipotle, who use Romaine Lettuce exclusively. Personally, I am more of a fan of Iceberg, but it just makes me wonder why E. Coli is much more common in Romaine than in Iceberg. Any thoughts?

Is there a reason that Chipotle doesn't just switch to some other type of lettuce? Surely the minor difference in what's essentially a filler ingredient doesn't compare to the financial loss that yet another e.coli outbreak with Chipotle's name on it would incur.

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#43

Post by moojd »

ShorsHammer wrote: post #18
stcredzero wrote: post #8

The other day, my wife introduced me to yet another difference between Chinese cuisine and US cuisine: She cooked the Romaine lettuce she got from her coworker. She just cooked it like you'd cook Bok Choy. It was quite good! My wife also rinses everything we get from the store. No one is to be trusted with your family's food. Absolutely everything is rinsed, including things most Americans would really rather not. On…

Many restaurants in China serve cooked lettuce as a side, I found it quite odd at first but it's really tasty and with some soy sauce easy to eat by itself. Cooking lettuce in the western world will probably raise a few eyebrows.

I'm used to eating cooked collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, spinach, and kale but I don't know why it has never crossed my mind you could do the same with something like romaine or lettuce. I imagine it wouldn't be too different.

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#44

Post by selimthegrim »

VectorLock wrote: post #37
selimthegrim wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So you eat them not raw.

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

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#45

Post by oftenwrong »

stcredzero wrote: post #8

The other day, my wife introduced me to yet another difference between Chinese cuisine and US cuisine: She cooked the Romaine lettuce she got from her coworker. She just cooked it like you'd cook Bok Choy. It was quite good! My wife also rinses everything we get from the store. No one is to be trusted with your family's food. Absolutely everything is rinsed, including things most Americans would really rather not. On…

A soup of puréed romaine is quite good as well.

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#46

Post by decebalus1 »

agumonkey wrote: post #6
beefman wrote: post #4

Tens of millions of people shouldn't eat Romaine lettuce because 30 people got sick in October?

Well you can if you want

Not really. Just got back from some holiday grocery shopping and in all 3 stores I've been to the clerks were removing the romaine from the shelves. That's how I found out about this.

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#47

Post by capkutay »

decebalus1 wrote: post #46
agumonkey wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you can if you want

Not really. Just got back from some holiday grocery shopping and in all 3 stores I've been to the clerks were removing the romaine from the shelves. That's how I found out about this.

I had the unfortunate luck of reading the breaking news as I was eating a caesar salad at a restaurant. The restaurant didn't seem to be aware of the news.

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#48

Post by nixpulvis »

krackers wrote: post #41
garysahota93 wrote: post #22

It seems like this happens all the time. I really wonder what the implications of this will be to companies like Chipotle, who use Romaine Lettuce exclusively. Personally, I am more of a fan of Iceberg, but it just makes me wonder why E. Coli is much more common in Romaine than in Iceberg. Any thoughts?

Is there a reason that Chipotle doesn't just switch to some other type of lettuce? Surely the minor difference in what's essentially a filler ingredient doesn't compare to the financial loss that yet another e.coli outbreak with Chipotle's name on it would incur.

Would other types of lettuce be any less susceptible to E. coli?

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#49

Post by village-idiot »

windexh8er wrote: post #20
craftyguy wrote: post #2

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 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 contractin…

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...

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.

Re: CDC Food Safety Alert: E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce

#50

Post by krackers »

nixpulvis wrote: post #48
krackers wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a reason that Chipotle doesn't just switch to some other type of lettuce? Surely the minor difference in what's essentially a filler ingredient doesn't compare to the financial loss that yet another e.coli outbreak with Chipotle's name on it would incur.

Would other types of lettuce be any less susceptible to E. coli?

IIRC the past few outbreaks have only been for romaine lettuce. Iceberg and green leaf seem to be have relatively fewer incidents, though I'm not sure if this is due to something about the supply source, the way it's used, or the way it's grown.
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