SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – “Too often. Too often. No one is accountable for this and this is a problem.”
After spending the first half of 2019 trying to get rid of E-coli in her system, Tiburon resident Colette Clowes was frustrated to hear of the latest outbreak tied to romaine lettuce.
“We’ve got to make sure our farmers are really really careful about what we’re ingesting into our bodies,” she said. “And E-coli is not something you want in your body.”
Clowes said she was in severe pain when she went into the hospital on Christmas Eve last year.
And after being diagnosed with E-coli, she said it took several months to fully rid her system of the bacteria.
“It’s really painful, extremely painful, and you will have volatile results that will tell you you’re very sick,” Clowes said. “To get rid of it is very very lengthy. It takes a lot of testing and I’m not gonna go into the details cause it isn’t very kind.”
She hopes everyone takes the cdc’s latest warning seriously.
Nearly 30 people across the country have been hospitalized since Sept. 24 due to E-coli harvested from the Salinas region.
Five people have suffered kidney failure.
Health officials are asking consumers to see if the packaging on their romaine lettuce has the word Salinas on the label in any form.
If so — throw it away.
“Be careful out there,” Clowes said.
Clowes sticks to organic now — but main thing she’s learned from all of this:
“When you bring things home, wash everything, wash! It’s so important,” she said.