A deadly E. coli outbreak hit 15 states, but the FDA chose not to make the details public

A foodborne illness linked to lettuce ripped across 15 states last November, sickening dozens of people and killing one. But the federal government chose not to publicize it.

An E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce ripped across 15 states in November, sickening dozens of people, including a 9-year-old boy in Indiana who nearly died of kidney failure and a 57-year-old Missouri woman who fell ill after attending a funeral lunch. One person died.

But chances are you haven’t heard about it.  

The Food and Drug Administration indicated in February that it had closed the investigation without publicly detailing what had happened — or which companies were responsible for growing and processing the contaminated lettuce.

According to an internal report obtained by NBC News, the FDA did not name the companies because no contaminated lettuce was left by the time investigators uncovered where the pathogen was coming from.  

“There were no public communications related to this outbreak,” the FDA said in its report, which noted that there had been a death but provided no details about it.   

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ecoli-bacteria-lettuce-outbreak-rcna200236

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