Outbreaks of E coli that sickened almost 200 people in California late last year came from tainted romaine lettuce. Cattle were grazing near that farming operation but the E-coli issue is tied not to the cattle but the lettuce according to Ethan Lane, Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
He says the FDA never found the cattle to be the cause of the E-coli, that the problem is tied to the romaine lettuce farm.
Lane says its critical that the facts of this investigation into the E-coli come out so other countries don’t put up trade barriers to U.S. cattle or beef because of it.
No deaths were reported from the E-coli that sickened those in California from last year’s incident. The FDA said it couldn’t definitely identify a route of contamination for the three 2019 outbreaks.
