By: Charlene Yang, Vivian Tsang
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advised the public to stop consumption of romaine lettuce due to an unknown source of contamination on Nov. 20, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Press Release. The FDA is continuing to investigate the source of the outbreak, but advises all romaine lettuce on the market to be withdrawn and destroyed, the Press Release stated.
MUSD students received an email regarding the “Product Recall of Romaine Lettuce” on Nov. 26 through Student Square. The email informed students about the contents of the press release and that romaine lettuce would be discontinued from the school lunch menu until further notice.
“Major outbreaks like this are serious, and can be life-threatening,” Director of Student Nutrition Services Sandy Huynh stated via email. “Our department receives and follows guidance from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Our produce vendors also quickly contacted us and halted all distribution of romaine lettuce.”
The Student Nutrition Services has removed all romaine lettuce from the menu since Monday, Nov. 26, according to Huynh. Spring mix will substitute for romaine lettuce in the entree salad, Huynh continued.
In a new email titled “Update on Romaine Lettuce, ” parents were informed that the district would begin serving lettuce again starting on Monday, Dec. 10, the email stated. The email was sent out on Friday, Dec. 7.
“Our produce vendor has been approved by the FDA to resume distribution of romaine lettuce,” Huynh said via email. “Please be assured that our vendor is sourcing romaine lettuce only from approved growing regions. The packaging of the product will have labels indicating growing location and harvest date.”
Senior Kevin Dang eats school lunch at least twice a week, he said. The school should have taken more measures to inform students about the lettuce outbreak, Dang added.
“I guess the school is handling it okay,” Dang said. “I think [the school] could announce it in the morning, because I think that would help people be more aware, because people don’t really look at emails enough. I think announcements would help and putting up signs around campus on how lettuce affects your diet.”
Freshman Gina Huss buys lunch from school almost everyday and has been substituting the romaine lettuce salad by eating other salad types, she added. Huss said that she thought the school was doing the absolute best they could.
“How easy would it be to get another salad type quickly?” Huss said. “My guess is not that quickly. The school actually did sell a spinach and red leaf mix, which is actually healthier. I think the school was being safe, and I empathize [with] them.”
According to Huynh, the reason for the contamination is E. Coli. “Some romaine lettuce products have been found to be contaminated by E.Coli, and the source have been narrowed down to the Central Coastal growing regions of northern and central California,” she said via email.
The CDC recommended for consumers to avoid consuming romaine lettuce from Central Coastal growing regions of northern and central California, Huynh said. She continued, advising students to not eat any lettuce without a label on the packaging.
“In addition, I recommend practicing general food safety, such as washing your hands before and after you eat,” Huynh said.
For more information about the outbreak, Huynh shared the following link to the CDC’s article: https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-11-18/index.html
The press release from the FDA can be found at this link: https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm626716.htm