Throw Out Your Romaine Lettuce, CDC Warns Illinois

ILLINOIS — Unless you know for certain where your romaine lettuce was grown, you should throw it away. That's the warning the CDC issued Friday for all types of romaine lettuce, from whole heads of lettuce to hearts of romaine, along with chopped lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine. The alert said consumers everywhere in the United States should get rid of anything containing romaine.

The alert was issued Friday after a multi-state E. coli outbreak linked to lettuce produced in Yuma, Arizona. The outbreak has caused illnesses in 16 states, including Illinois. So far, no deaths have been reported.

The CDC said unless you can verify where your romaine was grown, it's safer to toss it. "Product labels often do not identify growing regions; so, throw out any romaine lettuce if you're uncertain about where it was grown," the CDC said in an update issued Friday.

The warning was expanded Friday after new E. coli illnesses were reported in Alaska.

Here's a look at the number of illnesses in all 16 affected states as of Friday.

So far, 53 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported in those 16 states. Thirty-one people have been hospitalized, including five people who have developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome, the CDC said.

Photo via Shutterstock

Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff, contributed to this report.