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The California counties named by FDA a the source of the contamination were Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura. Investigators were able to match illness dates with harvesting in fields in those counties. FDA does not restrict consumption romaine lettuce that has been harvested from areas outside of the Central Coast growing regions of northern and central California. Harvesting has resumed in growing region near Yuma, the California desert growing region near Imperial County and Riverside County, the state of Florida, and Mexico. Also hydroponically- or greenhouse-grown lettuce is allowed back to the market. As a result many companies in the romaine lettuce supply chain resumed shipping Monday after a week-long voluntary pause. A new label is being implemented voluntarily. This label will include a harvest location and a harvest date.

The FDA announced the recall of Tahini products of all packages and sizes produced on the following dates: April 7th to May 21st 2018, produced by Achdut LTD. of Ariel, Israel due to contamination with Salmonella Concord. The products have expiration dates of April 7, 2020 to May 21, 2020. Some of the Tahini packages might not have dates or the dates are written in Hebrew. The recalled “Tahini” was distributed internationally in retail stores and through mail orders. CDC identified five people in the U.S.that were infected with Salmonella Concord that had the same genetic fingerprint as the Salmonella Concord found in Tahini sampled. Of the five U.S. cases interviewed, all five reported consuming hummus made with Tahini. A sample of Tahini collected by FDA at the point of import tested positive for Salmonella Concord. The probable root cause for this recall is cross contamination. The company has eliminated the source of contamination and preventive steps were taken. @ https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm626750.ht

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On Nov. 23, the FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb Tweeted about a plans to allow romaine to return to the market. This will involve a new labeling standard to aid in tracing products. Dr. Gottlieb said, “the goal now is to withdraw the product that’s at risk of being contaminated from the market, and then re-stock the market.” Gottlieb also tweeted that romaine from different growing regions such as Arizona and Florida will soon be harvested. He said “We’re working with growers and distributors on labeling produce for location and harvest date and possibly other ways of informing consumers that the product is ‘post-purge.’” “We want to help unaffected growers get back into production and enable stores and consumers to re-stock,” Gottlieb tweeted. “One goal we’re seeking is to make this type of labeling the new standard rather than a short-term fix; as a way to improve identification and traceability in the system.” A member alert from United Fresh said that “This is an extremely broad warning to consumers to not eat any type of romaine from any growing region,”. “Despite our urging that industry could clearly identify some sources of romaine coming onto the market as not related to the outbreak, CDC and FDA are also requesting the voluntary withdrawal of romaine lettuce before it enters commerce.” According to a Western Growers statement “ … It is important to acknowledge that a number of regions in current production were not harvesting or shipping romaine at the onset of the outbreak and, consequently, could not be the source of the specific E. coli strain identified in the illnesses,”. “In light of this evidence, we urge the government’s health agencies to work with stakeholders to quickly narrow the scope of the investigation, and to remove these regions from the comprehensive advisory as soon as the safety of the public can be ensured.” @ https://www.thepacker.com/article/fda-looks-labeling-standard-plans-allow-romaine-return?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWTJVNVkyWXhabUV3WmpBNSIsInQiOiJqTXoyT2IwSDE1c3JkaE4rNXZVWm5LOUluWmlpV3BRUWxab3Y2WFk0aktua1N2aVlxbjNFbGJHTUIzYW5hUG9VMjFxWkVuTFo2ekwzdDN5NjNyYWdoY2Y5eG1GMU9iMFVEaGFPQkxEU3ZlZktCT1ZNSERcL1VNOU52ekhHUmI0NzEifQ%3D%3D