Critics push for more food safety amid E. coli outbreak

A new multistate outbreak linked to E. coli-tainted lettuce comes as food safety advocates point to sagging food safety laws and say inadequate regulation has made leafy greens some of the riskiest foods from grocery distributors.

Health officials in Nassau and Suffolk report no illnesses associated with shredded romaine lettuce sold wholesale to delis, restaurants and food service operations.

Previous leafy green outbreaks caused by E. coli featured a strain called E. coli O157:H7, this one appears to have been triggered by the rare, but equally serious, E. coli O145.

None of the lettuce was distributed to supermarkets.

A check of local hospitals shows no spike in gastrointestinal maladies, the leading indicator of food borne illnesses.

Freshway Foods in Ohio is recalling its romaine sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands because of outbreaks in 23 states and the District of Columbia. So far, 19 people have become ill; 12 have been hospitalized.

According to the Associated Press, romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz., may be the source of the outbreak.

Federal investigators are looking at a farm in Yuma as a possible source for the outbreak, according to the distributor who sold the lettuce.

Yet, even as local health authorities were certain that, at least on Friday, none of the tainted lettuce had sickened Long Islanders, state health officials said the tainted product is in New York.

"There are three confirmed and four probable cases," said Jeffrey Hammond, spokesman for the New York State Department of Health. Erie County has one case, a student at Daemen College, who has recovered. Two other illnesses were in Duchess, Hammond said.

Scientists at the state laboratory in Albany pinpointed the contamination to a bag of Freshway Foods romaine lettuce on Wednesday.

Salad bowl ingredients have been a constant source of deadly bacteria for years - spinach, lettuce and jalapeño peppers have been recalled because they were laced with E. coli or salmonella. Last year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest listed leafy greens among the top 10 riskiest foods because of the bacteria scares.

The House of Representatives passed tough, new food safety legislation last year but the measure has been stalled in the Senate.

"Consumers can do something about this," said Sandra Eskin, director of the Make Our Food Safe coalition. "They should call Senator [Harry] Reid and tell him to put this bill to a vote."