E. coli sickens 19 in OH, NY, MI - Romaine Lettuce being Recalled

WASHINGTON — An E. coli outbreak possibly linked to tainted lettuce has sickened at least 19 people in Ohio, New York and Michigan, including students on three college campuses, prompting a recall throughout much of the country.

Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, said it was recalling romaine lettuce sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands in 23 states and the District of Columbia because of a possible link to E. coli.

Twelve of those sickened were hospitalized, three of them with life-threatening symptoms, the Food and Drug Administration said. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was looking at 10 other cases probably linked to the outbreak.

College students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ohio State in Columbus and Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y., are among those affected, according to local health departments in those states.

The FDA is focusing its investigation on lettuce grown in Arizona as a possible source for the outbreak, according to two people who have been briefed by the agency. Donna Rosenbaum, director of the food safety advocacy group Safe Tables Our Priority and one of those briefed, said the agency held a phone call with public health advocates Thursday. MORE