Hong Kong halts sale and import of California romaine lettuce, blamed for North American E coli outbreak

Trade in the product has been suspended with immediate effect after US Food and Drink Administration linked it to spate of food poisoning

All romaine lettuce coming into Hong Kong has been seized for testing before it can be released to the market

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Health officials in Hong Kong have followed their counterparts in the US and Canada in warning people to avoid eating romaine lettuce, which has been linked to an E coli outbreak that has caused dozens of people to become ill. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 11:33pm, 27 Nov 2018Updated: 2:55am, 28 Nov 2018

Hong Kong has suspended the sale and import of romaine lettuce – also known as cos – harvested in California after US food safety investigators found the vegetable grown in the state appeared to be the source of the recent E coli outbreak in North America.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety said the import and sale of romaine lettuce harvested in California “has been suspended with immediate effect”.

The centre also urged the trade to stop using and selling romaine lettuce produced in California immediately and asked the public not to eat such lettuce from California or unknown sources.

A centre spokesman said: “The [centre] has been closely following up on the US romaine lettuce incident and has earlier held all romaine lettuce from the US and Canada for testing at the import level.

Agricultural workers cultivate romaine lettuce on a farm in Holtville, California. US health officials warned consumers on November 20 not to eat any romaine lettuce and to throw away any they might have in their homes, citing an outbreak of E coli poisoning. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

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