Congressman Panetta Responds to Reports of E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Romain Lettuce

SALINAS, CA – On Friday, November 22, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) released the following statement after speaking with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, Frank Yiannas about the ongoing investigation into an E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce:
"Today, I spoke with FDA leadership about the bacterial contamination outbreak linked to romaine.  As the representative of the Salinas Valley, food safety is of the utmost importance to me and my constituents.  I urged Deputy Commissioner Yiannas to work collaboratively and communicatively with industry partners to minimize any health risks to consumers and reduce the loss of safe and healthy crops that are not connected to this outbreak.  He promised to provide my office with daily updates throughout the investigation.  I will continue to work with the FDA, CDC, and our producers to ensure that the investigation is completed in a timely manner so that our consumers are safe and our industry is secure in its production of romaine."