Originally Posted by
KathyInAR
I know I said I wasn't going to belabor this; but, just on the outside chance that I actually may help in some small way I am going to respond to this one last time. This strain of e-Coli can take from 2-4 days from having consumed food contaminated before the onset of illness. So, we got people who are sick from 12 different states (thoughout the US all the way from the West coast to the East Coast) as well as Canada. It is not as if they all got sick immediately after consuming the Romaine lettuce...besides, in most instances there will have been other ingredients in the salads/sandwiches that were consumed at the same time. So, the doctors treating the person in Chicago who goes to the emergency room sick, doesn't immediately know that someone in California was sick as well, or in New York...or wherever. Yes, eventually a pattern will develop and then an investigation will ensue...now remember these people will have very likely eaten multiple times since they ate the contaminated lettuce...so the folks investigation will have to find the common thread between all these folks (and eating Romaine lettuce is a very common instance so the fact that they may all have consumed Romaine lettuce over the preceding couple of weeks (remember, they didn't all get sick the same day) would not necessarily be unusual. They likely had tomatoes, onions, and various meats that people put in salads. Ok, once it is narrowed down to the fact that it is likely the Romaine, they need to get their hands on some of it to test for the e-Coli bacteria. Finally, there is a clue...now, to find where all this Romaine that has made the folks sick came from...it's not like it is stamped on the leaves of the lettuce folks have in their fridges. All this takes time...it is impossible to happen in an instant! But, in an instant they can warn people that there is a problem with Romaine.
Like, if you walk outside and see your car dipping in the back driver's rear and you walk around and see that the tire is flat, yup, in an instance you can determine that the dip is the result of a flat tire. However, if you find that your entire car is on fire and nearly burnt to the ground, you can't know for certain the cause of the fire in that instance. It is going to take some time to determine the cause of the fire.
Even that scenario you described above takes time...and remember it could very well be from food they ate 4 days ago...and it is happening in 12 different states and Canada. Not only that, but people get e-Coli bacteria infections not only from food that they purchases that was already tainted; but, from bad hygiene habits as well--like not washing hands after using the bathroom, transferring of e-Coli bacteria from your pets to your food unknowingly, etc. You might even pick it up while eating in a restaurant without even being served or eating the food that was originally contaminated. It could be that when chopping the contaminated Romaine, the restaurant worker then used the same bowl that he/she first placed the Romaine in to then make the coleslaw without cleaning the bowl first.
The bottom line, is that it doesn't happen in an instance, and when there finally becomes a widespread pattern, getting the word out and warning people immediately is the only prudent to do.
Re: PSA — Don’t Eat the Romaine Lettuce
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