The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that romaine lettuce being served and sold from now on is no longer linked to the E. Coli outbreak that led to one death in California.
The news comes after the CDC’s near month-long investigation into contaminated lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona growing region, which recently completed its harvesting season. The final shipment from the region was harvested on April 16, 2018.
Because of lettuce’s 21-day shelf life, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is “unlikely” that any Yuma-grown romaine lettuce remains in stores or restaurants.
Illnesses were initially reported during the final weeks of March from seven different states. The CDC said that over 90 percent of the affected people consumed romaine lettuce in the days before their symptoms began.
By mid-May, the outbreak had spread: 172 people in 32 states were affected.
There was one death reported from California and 75 hospitalizations nationwide, including 20 people who suffered kidney failure.