TORONTO — Health officials are investigating 16 cases of E. coli in five eastern provinces stemming from packaged salad.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued a recall for Fresh Express brand Sunflower Crisp Chopped Kits in 315-gram bags with best before dates up to and including Dec. 7, 2019.
The kits have UPC codes beginning with the letter “Z,” indicating Salinas, Calif., as the romaine lettuce source.
The packages were sold in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says at least 10 people have become sick in Ontario, three in New Brunswick and one each in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Symptoms of E. coli include nausea, vomiting, headache, mild fever, severe stomach cramps and watery or bloody diarrhea.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating an E. coli outbreak that had sickened 40 people in more than a dozen states, and told people to avoid romaine lettuce grown in Salinas.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 10, 2019.