Scott Gottlieb, FDA Commissioner took to the Twitter this morning while many were buying TVs and Himalayan salt lamps to talk about the Romaine-linked E. coli O157 outbreak.
I imagine there’s lots of pressure out there to lift the blanket statement from CDC to avoid all Romaine. Especially if the dates of harvest/transition from one location to another make it so it’s not likely that lettuce from certain regions would be linked to the outbreak.
Some sort of identification is great – because how would a consumer know what to ask about or how to figure out the source without it.
UPDATE ON OUTBREAK: The romaine implicated in the current outbreak is likely from California based on growing and harvesting patterns. The goal now is to withdraw the product that’s at risk of being contaminated from the market, and then re-stock the market…..
— Scott Gottlieb, M.D. (@SGottliebFDA) November 23, 2018
….New romaine from different growing regions, including Florida and Arizona, will soon be harvested. We’re working with growers and distributors on labeling produce for location and harvest date and possibly other ways of informing consumers that the product is “post-purge”….
— Scott Gottlieb, M.D. (@SGottliebFDA) November 23, 2018
….We want to help unaffected growers get back into production and enable stores and consumers to re-stock. One goal we’re seeking is to make this type of labeling the new standard rather than a short-term fix; as a way to improve idenfitifaction and traceability in the system.
— Scott Gottlieb, M.D. (@SGottliebFDA) November 23, 2018