Eating Romaine Lettuce? E.coli Warning Signs to Look For: Integrative Urgent Care: Urgent Care (2024)

FAQs

Eating Romaine Lettuce? E.coli Warning Signs to Look For: Integrative Urgent Care: Urgent Care? ›

Symptoms of infection with E. coli O157:H7 include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. Some people may have a slight fever. The CDC recommends seeing a doctor if you have a high fever, bloody diarrhea, or severe vomiting, or if diarrhea lasts longer than three days.

People usually get sick from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) 2–8 days (average of 3–4 days) after swallowing the germ. Some people with a STEC infection may get a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

The main side effects, and most worrisome, involve diarrhea, crippling stomach cramps, and chronic vomiting. If you were unfortunate enough to eat contaminated romaine, you would start to notice these symptoms between two and eight days after eating the meal.

According to the new study, 58 percent of recent E. coli illnesses were attributed to vegetable row crops, largely leafy greens. In 2019, a large outbreak caused 167 cases and hospitalized 85 people from 27 states. It was associated with the consumption of romaine lettuce from California's Salinas Valley.

Unless your product is recalled, romaine lettuce is safe to eat.

Symptoms of E. coli typically start appearing 3 to 4 days after eating or drinking something with the bacteria. However, symptoms can appear 1 to 10 days after you're exposed.

Vegetables can take a bit longer to digest than fruit. However, lettuce, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables containing a lot of water will need just around 30 minutes to leave “stomach land” behind.

Replace lost fluids and electrolytes

You should drink plenty of liquids. If vomiting is a problem, try sipping small amounts of clear liquids. Replacing lost fluids and electrolytes is the most important treatment for food poisoning. Eating saltine crackers can also help replace electrolytes.

Gradually begin to eat bland, low-fat, easy-to-digest foods, such as soda crackers, toast, gelatin, bananas and rice. Stop eating if you feel sick to your stomach again. Avoid certain foods and substances until you're feeling better.

What are the bad effects of romaine lettuce? ›

Consuming lettuce in excess can cause many side effects. These are mydriasis (dilation of the pupil), photophobia (inability to look at bright light), dizziness, heart and breathing difficulty, excessive sweating, hallucinations, and induced sleep.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) are investigating an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157, commonly called E. coli, linked to romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing regions in the United States (U.S.).

Because it's not heated, there's no chance to kill off the bacteria,” explained James Rogers, director of Food Safety Research and Testing at Consumer Reports. Most recent romaine lettuce recalls are linked to E. coli and Listeria.

What about washing? Washing the produce at home is not a reliable way to remove bacteria. "The bacteria can be stuck on the surface of the lettuce, it can even get inside the lettuce," Goodridge says. "So if you wash it, you might remove some of the bacteria, but you're not removing 100 per cent.

Rifaximin, azithromycin, and ciprofloxacin are currently recommended by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) to treat E. coli diarrheal illness.

Because lettuce has beta-carotene, it is possible to consume so much of it that you acquire carotenodermia. Carotenodermia manifests as a yellowish tint to the skin but goes away quickly if you lower the amount of beta-carotene you consume.

In some patients lettuce produces abdominal distension, which is not related to gas, but rather to an uncontrolled reaction of the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm. Hence, learning to control the abdominal muscles may prevent distension with no need of dietary restrictions.