The lettuce and leafy greens folks always say they have some sort of food safety plan and are usually quiet when there’s an outbreak. There’s an easy solution, make data public and market at retail.

But why do that when bromides fill the market need.

A total of 33 persons infected with the outbreak strain of STEC O157:H7 were reported from four states.

The number of ill persons identified in each state was as follows: Arizona (1), California (28), Texas (1), and Washington (3)

32% of ill persons were hospitalized. Two ill persons developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and no deaths were reported.

The STEC O157:H7 PFGE pattern combination in this outbreak was new to the PulseNet database.

Epidemiologic and traceback investigations conducted by local, state, and federal officials indicated that consumption of two ready-to-eat salads, Field Fresh Chopped Salad with Grilled Chicken and Mexicali Salad with Chili Lime Chicken, produced by Glass Onion Catering and sold at Trader Joe’s grocery store locations, was the likely source of this outbreak of STEC O157:H7 infections.

On November 10, 2013, Glass Onion Catering voluntarily recalled numerous ready-to-eat salads and sandwich wrap products that may be contaminated with STEC O157:H7.