Romaine Lettuce Recall 2011

True Leaf Farms is voluntary recalling 90 cartons of chopped romaine lettuce because of the possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.  The recalled product was shipped between September 12 and 13 to an institutional food service distributor in Oregon, who further distributed it to at least two additional states, Washington and Idaho.

Most of the lettuce was sold to California institutions such as restaurants and cafeterias.  Produce affected by the recall was labeled as follows:  2# bags, chopped romaine – Bag and box code B256-46438-8.  All bags carry a “use by date” of 9/29/11.

Symptoms of those that have ingested the organism can range from high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.  It can be fatal in young children and elderly people, or others with a weakened immune system.  Consumers with questions or who need information may call Church Brothers, LLC, the sales agent for True Leaf Farms, at 1-800-799-9475.

Why all the recent food recalls?  Federal health officials say they’ve gotten better at detecting the germs that cause food poisoning, so they are seeing them in produce more often. So does this mean they have been there all along or is something changing in food production that is causing these outbreaks?