Central Iowa restaurants respond to latest E. coli outbreak
Restaurants and supermarkets in central Iowa are taking extra precautions to keep their customers safe after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said to discard all romaine lettuce.
Workers at Gateway Market pulled all romaine off the shelves and sterilized every surface it touched.
Des Moines resident Kara Cooper said she had romaine for dinner last night but "didn't think about it. I felt fine. It tasted fine," she said.
Chef George Formaro isn't taking any chances at his Gateway Market or his restaurants, including Centro, Django and Zombie Burger.
"At close last night, I went and touched based with every chef and made sure it was safe," Formaro said.
Even though there is no official recall, the Food and Drug Administration is warning a new E. coli outbreak has sickened 32 people in 11 states and 18 people in Canada. This is a different strain than the last one linked to romaine earlier this year.
"Usually people have fever, diarrhea, vomiting," said Ann Garvey, deputy state epidemiologist. "We usually have 275 cases of E. coli each year in Iowa." So far, no one in Iowa has gotten sick from the most recent outbreak.
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Formaro suggests using green leaf lettuce or any of the specialty greens that are more flavorful instead.
"I'd put dressing on the side so it doesn't wilt," he said.
"I'll eat the other stuff, mashed potatoes and gravy. It doesn't matter to me," Cooper said.
With all the other greens, there's no excuse to keep salads off the table. It is unclear how long romaine will remain off the shelves.