WASHINGTON — Lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz., might be the source of a widespread E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce that has sickened at least 19 people and prompted a recall in 23 states.
Federal investigators are looking at a farm in Yuma as a possible source for the outbreak, according to the distributor who sold the lettuce.
Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, said Thursday that it had recalled lettuce sold in 23 states and the District of Columbia, not including Colorado, because of a possible link to an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 19 people — three with life-threatening illness.
College students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ohio State in Columbus and Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y., are among those who were affected by the outbreak, according to health departments in those states. The health officials said most of the victims were sickened in April and have already recovered.
Vice president Devon Beer said Freshway Foods worked with the Food and Drug Administration to trace the contaminated lettuce to a Yuma grower whom he would not identify.
The recall applies only to romaine lettuce with “best if used by” dates before or on May 12, when Freshway Foods stopped buying its romaine from Yuma, Beer said.
The most common strain of E. coli found in U.S. patients is E. coli O157.
The CDC said the strain linked to the lettuce, E. coli O145, is more difficult to identify and may go unreported.
