Lettuce Recall Follows Spinach E. Coli Outbreak
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SAN FRANCISCO — Less than a week after the Food and Drug Administration lifted its warning on fresh spinach grown in California’s Salinas Valley, a popular brand of lettuce grown there has been recalled over concerns about E. coli contamination.
The lettuce does not appear to have caused any illnesses, the president of Salinas-based 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 irrigation water may have been contaminated with E. coli, the president of the company, Tom Nunes Jr., said.
So far, company investigators have not found E. coli bacteria in the lettuce itself, Mr. Nunes stressed. “We’re just reacting to a water test only,” he said. “We know there’s generic E. coli on it, but we’re not sure what that means.”
