Lettuce grower seeks 250 cartons

SAN FRANCISCO – The company that recalled its lettuce after irrigation water tested positive for E. coli scrambled Monday to locate 250 remaining cartons of the greens, which could be scattered across seven Western states.

On Sunday, Nunes Co. recalled more than 8,500 cartons of green leaf lettuce grown on one farm in the Salinas Valley, the agricultural region at the center of the tainted-spinach outbreak that killed three people and made 199 others sick.

By Monday morning, all but 250 cartons of the lettuce distributed under the Foxy brand between Oct. 3 and Oct. 6 had been located and were being destroyed, company president Tom Nunes said.

The search continued for the remaining cartons, which were believed to be in supermarkets or restaurants in Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

“If we can get it all back, I’ll be a happy camper,” Nunes said, stressing the recall was precautionary since there had been no evidence of E. coli on the lettuce or reports of illnesses.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration commended the company for being proactive.

“Clearly, the company did the right thing in terms of taking the proper approach in not putting the public at risk and initiating a voluntary recall,” said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer in the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The recall was issued for lettuce sold as “Green Leaf 24 Count, waxed carton,” and “Green Leaf 18 Count, cellophane sleeve, returnable carton,” and stamped with lot code 6SL0024.