If you’ve been to a grocery store in Prince George this week, you may have noticed that romaine lettuce has been ‘out of stock.’
This is due to a recent outbreak of E-coli infections across the country according to Canada’s Public Health Agency (PHA), forcing BC stores to pull the product as a pre-caution.
In PG, the Real Canadian Superstore, Save-On-Foods, and Wal-Mart have all followed suit in removing romaine lettuce.
The picture below is a sign put up in Superstore, explaining they’ve stopped selling the product as an ‘abundance of caution.’
Dr. David Njoo with Canada’s Public Health Agency says there have been 22 reported cases of E-coli since Wednesday, but none are in BC.
“Anyone who has eaten romaine lettuce and is experiencing the symptoms of illness associated with E-coli 0157, which includes upset stomach with vomiting and diarrhea, are encouraged to speak to their Healthcare professional.”
Right now, the PHA can’t confirm if romaine lettuce is the cause of the outbreak, but according to Dr. Aline Dimitri, it is a common factor.
“We are also working in close collaboration with Federal and Provincial health partners, and our United States counterpart, in an effort to identify how the product is contaminated so that the root cause can be addressed as quickly as possible.”