Federal health authorities have declared an end to three E. coli outbreaks traced to romaine lettuce grown in California’s Salinas Valley. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted its nationwide consumer advisory Wednesday, saying no more new illnesses have been traced to outbreaks linked to Fresh Express romaine lettuce harvested from the Salinas Valley. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it has narrowed down its investigation of the latest E. coli outbreak to multiple fields in the southern Salinas Valley, although samples taken from water and soil at those farms turned up no trace of the implicated E. coli strains. The industry has formed committees to identify measures that could further address risks from water, soil and land use and other factors, Horsfall said. In 2018, a deadly outbreak in the Yuma-Imperial area that sickened 250 people was traced to contamination from a large cattle feeding lot.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 16, 2020 16:40 UTC