One person has reportedly died from the romaine lettuce E. Coli outbreak, and now we’re freaked out

A few months ago, you may have heard to avoid eating romaine lettuce due to an E. coli outbreak. Now things have taken a turn for the worse. According to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is one death in California that has been linked to the outbreak.

The romaine lettuce contaminated with the bacteria reportedly came from Yuma, Arizona, and a total of 25 states have been affected. As of now, there have been 121 cases of E. coli and among those cases, there have been 52 hospitalizations. Since the CDC’s last report made on April 27th, 23 new cases have popped up. The situation is so bad that it’s being called one of the largest outbreaks in a decade.

Among all the cases, 14 people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a condition triggered by damaged red blood cells, typically caused by E. coli. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, blood during urination, abdominal pain, and fatigue.

According to the CDC report, there have been no recalls as of yet.

However, they do advise consumers to avoid romaine lettuce unless you can confirm that it wasn’t grown in the Yuma, Arizona region. Avoiding romaine lettuce altogether is probably your best bet, since many product labels don’t actually identify where the product was grown.

“This advice includes whole heads and hearts of romaine, chopped romaine, baby romaine, organic romaine, and salads and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce,” the CDC writes on its site. “If you do not know if the lettuce in a salad mix is romaine, do not eat it.”

The CDC states that the investigation is still ongoing and will provide more details when it becomes available. But for now, just do yourself a solid and avoid the romaine lettuce. No matter how much you love your lunchtime salads, it’s not worth it.