Because of several new illnesses in Alaska, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have expanded their warning about romaine lettuce to include heads and bagged salad mixes. Any romaine that was grown in Yuma, Arizona may be contaminated with a pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli. If consumers are unsure of where romaine lettuce they have was grown, they should throw it away.
Romaine lettuce can only be eaten safely at home or in a restaurant if it can be confirmed that Yuma was not the source of the lettuce.
So far, 53 people have been confirmed to have been sickened by the O157:H7 E. coli outbreak strain. Cases have been reported in 16 states; 31 individuals have been hospitalized, and five of those patients developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. No one has died from exposure.