E. Coli Fears Prompt Lettuce Recall

Oct. 9. 2006 — -- Just nine days after the Food and Drug Administration announced it was safe to eat spinach again, a Salinas, Calif., produce company has voluntarily recalled some of its lettuce crop after irrigation water samples tested positive for E. coli contamination.

The family-owned Nunes Co., which grows vegetables in California and Arizona, pulled 8,500 cartons of Foxy brand green leaf lettuce from stores and distributors.

"We have recovered 97 percent of the affected cartons, and only 250 are still outstanding," said Tom Nunes Jr., president of the company. He said the produce still unaccounted for has been isolated to the West and may have been distributed in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

"This is the first time this has happened," Nunes told ABC News.

"We're just being very cautious, and we're trying to eliminate the problem before a problem can actually develop," said Nunes, who added that "recent events in the produce industry" also factored into the company's decision to take this "precautionary measure."

The company initiated the recall on Saturday when workers discovered that water used to irrigate the lettuce may have been contaminated with E. coli. Initial results from the routine water test led to further investigations, which indicated that the problem was caused by a secondary irrigation water source.

So far, tests have shown no contamination in the lettuce itself, but Nunes said the investigation is still ongoing and the company plans to retest both the water supply and the potentially affected produce in the coming days.

"The likelihood of an outbreak is very low," said Nunes.

The lettuce recall is not related to the recent contamination of spinach, and there have been no illnesses caused by eating the potentially affected lettuce, according to the FDA.

"There is no indication so far that this latest recall involves the same strain of E.coli linked to two deaths and 192 reported cases with spinach contamination," FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza told ABC News. "There are no reported cases of illness linked to lettuce so far."