E. coli outbreak leaves shoppers concerned

SPOKANE, Wash — A typically simple task just got a little more complicated. When you take a trip to the grocery store, your hardest decision may be white or wheat bread — now, a simple choice could have major affects on your health.

“Oh god, it’s scary because you don’t know,” Ash said. “Am I going to be one of those numbers that they’re talking about?”

Spokane resident Kristine Ash said a recent E. coli outbreak that’s left five in Washington and ten in Idaho sick has her more conscious of what she puts in her cart at the store.

Jack Green owns Green’s Fresh Market and he said he’s seen customers stay away from romaine due to the outbreak.

“Some of the people will just avoid it,” Green said.

Green said the infected lettuce was grown in Yuma, Arizona. If it was grown anywhere else, he said, the romaine is safe to eat. Green said he gets his lettuce from California.

“It’s not caused from growth but what happens during the growth,” Green said. “It would be isolated to a certain area, but people will panic and quit buying all that product and you know, that hurts.”

He advises shoppers to wash their vegetables thoroughly and ask where they’re coming from.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if you have leftover romaine and you don’t know where it’s from, you should avoid it.

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