SAN FRANCISCO – A popular brand of lettuce grown in California’s Salinas Valley, and distributed in Washington state, was recalled Sunday over concerns about E. coli contamination.
The lettuce does not appear to have caused any illnesses, the president of Nunes Co. Inc. said.
The lettuce scare comes amid other federal warnings that some brands of spinach, bottled carrot juice and recent shipments of beef could cause grave health risks – including paralysis, respiratory failure and death.
Executives ordered the recall after learning that irrigation water may have been contaminated with E. coli, said Tom Nunes Jr., president of the company.
So far, company investigators have not found E. coli bacteria in the lettuce itself, Nunes stressed.
“We’re just reacting to a water test only. We know there’s generic E. coli on it, but we’re not sure what that means,” he said. “We’re being extra careful. This is precautionary.”
The recall covers green leaf lettuce under the Foxy brand purchased in grocery stores Oct. 3-6 in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada and Arizona. It was also sold to distributors in those states who may have sold it to restaurants or institutions.
The recalled lettuce was packaged as “Green Leaf 24 Count, waxed carton,” and “Green Leaf 18 Count, cellophane sleeve, returnable carton.” Packaging is stamped with lot code 6SL0024.
It’s unlikely that the bacteria in the lettuce fields share the source of the E. coli found in spinach that has sickened nearly 200 people and has been linked to three deaths nationwide, Nunes said.
The recall at Nunes Co. comes days after federal agents searched two Salinas Valley produce companies connected to the nationwide spinach scare.
Doctors also warned consumers last week to stay away from some bottled carrot juice after a Florida woman was paralyzed and three people in Georgia experienced respiratory failure, apparently due to botulism poisoning.
On Friday, an Iowa company announced that it was recalling 5,200 pounds of ground beef suspected of having E. coli. The government said no illnesses have been reported from consumption of the beef.
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