<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt;color:#0000bf;"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>Lettuce Recalled Amid E.coli Outbreak</b><br><font face="Verdana" size="2"><b><a href="http://www.akronnewsnow.com/news/itemdetail.asp?ID=39120">Link to
original ANN story</a></b></font><br><font size="1"><i>may be necessary
for full page functionality</i></font><br><br> <font color="#a9a9a9" size="1">5/7/2010 4:50:10 AM | Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press
Writer</font><br><br><font face="Arial" size="2">A food company is
recalling lettuce sold in 23 states and the District of Columbia because
of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 19 people, three of
them with life-threatening symptoms.<br><br><!--No graphic image associated--></font></font><p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The Food and Drug
Administration said Thursday that 12 people had been hospitalized and
the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was
looking at 10 other cases probably linked to the outbreak.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, said it was
recalling romaine lettuce sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco
brands because of a possible link to the E. coli outbreak.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">College students at the University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor, Ohio State in Columbus and Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y.,
are among those affected, according to local health departments in those
states.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">The FDA is focusing its investigation on lettuce
grown in Arizona as a possible source for the outbreak, according to two
people who have been briefed by the agency. Donna Rosenbaum, director
of the food safety advocacy group Safe Tables Our Priority and one of
those briefed, said the agency held a phone call with public health
advocates Thursday.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">Rosenbaum and other public health advocates have
long been pushing for stronger food safety laws. The House passed a bill
last year that would give the agency much more authority to police food
production, but the Senate has not acted on it.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">The New York state Public Health Laboratory in
Albany discovered the contamination in a bag of Freshway Foods shredded
romaine lettuce on Wednesday after local authorities had been
investigating the outbreak for several weeks. The bag of lettuce came
from a processing facility that was also linked to the illnesses, the
FDA said. The agency would not disclose the name of that facility or its
location but said an investigation was under way.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">E. coli infection can cause mild diarrhea or more
severe complications, including kidney damage. The three patients with
life-threatening symptoms were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome,
which can cause bleeding in the brain or kidneys.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">It was not immediately clear why students on
college campuses were sickened. Freshway Foods said the lettuce was sold
to wholesalers, food service outlets, in-store salad bars and delis.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">Susan Cerniglia, spokeswoman for the public health
department in Washtenaw County, where the University of Michigan is
located, said it doesn't appear that students who were sickened ate the
contaminated food on campus. It is believed they may have been sickened
at local restaurants, she said.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">The Erie County, N.Y., health department issued an
alert late last month, however, that linked at least one diagnosis of E.
coli to a student who ate at a Daemen College dining facility.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">The most common strain of E. coli found in U.S.
patients is E. coli O157. The CDC said the strain linked to the lettuce,
E. coli 0145, is more difficult to identify and may go unreported.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">Freshway Foods said in a statement Thursday that
the FDA informed the company about the positive test in New York on
Wednesday afternoon. The statement said "an extensive FDA investigation"
of Freshway Foods' facility in Sidney has not uncovered any
contamination at the plant.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">The recalled lettuce has a "best if used by" date
of May 12 or earlier. The recall also affects "grab and go" salads sold
at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets and Marsh grocery stores.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">The lettuce was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the
District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,
Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New
York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">---</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">On the Net:</font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">FDA: </font><a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm211145.htm" target="-blank"><font color="#003399" face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm211145.htm</font></a><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> </font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">CDC: </font><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2010/ecoli-o145/index.html" target="-blank"><font color="#003399" face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2010/ecoli-o145/index.html</font></a><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> </font></font></font></font></p>
<p class="ap-story-p"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" size="2">Freshway Foods: </font><a href="http://www.freshwayfoods.com/recall/" target="-blank"><font color="#003399" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">http://www.freshwayfoods.com/recall/</font></a><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> </font></font></font></font></p>
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