E. Coli Outbreak Sickened Nearly 90 People. But Few Heard About It

An E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce sickened almost 90 people across 15 states last fall, killing one. But the outbreak was not widely publicized, reports the Washington Post in a long look at the Trump administration's changes to the Food and Drug Administration and how those changes might have affected the lack of information about this outbreak—and could affect how the public is informed about future outbreaks. The story started coming to light last month, when the family of a young boy sickened in the outbreak filed a lawsuit and NBC News ran its own lengthy story on the matter.

As the Post explains, the investigation into the outbreak started toward the end of the Biden administration, but wasn't completed until President Trump had taken office. His administration decided not to release the names of the grower and processor involved in the outbreak, since the FDA believed all tainted products had been pulled from the market. But, one lawyer explains, it's still important to alert the public because doing so can potentially prevent more illnesses, push the companies involved to improve sanitation, and identify companies that have been linked to multiple outbreaks. (The Atlantic earlier this month posted an article titled, "Now Is Not the Time to Eat Bagged Lettuce.")