An E. Coli Outbreak in Lettuce Killed 1 and Sickened Dozens—Why Didn’t the FDA Say Anything?

A deadly E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated romaine lettuce ripped across the U.S. near the end of 2024—but the Food and Drug Administration never informed the public about it.

That’s what a new investigation from NBC News uncovered. The outlet reported that a harmful strain of E. coli bacteria sickened dozens and killed one across 15 states in November 2024. The FDA investigated the outbreak and traced it back to romaine lettuce, according to an internal report obtained by NBC News.

In January, the FDA closed the investigation without announcing the outbreak to the public or revealing the grower who produced the contaminated lettuce. While the agency claims this is standard, food safety experts told Health the FDA made the wrong call.

“People absolutely have a right to know,” said Sandra Eskin, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness, a food safety advocacy group, and former Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the USDA. “It is material to their buying decisions. It impacts public health.”

So, why didn’t the FDA tell the public about this outbreak? And what does that mean for people trying to protect themselves and their families? Here’s what you need to know.

During the month of November, 89 people were infected with E. coli O157:H7, a strain of E. coli bacteria that can cause severe illness. Cases were reported in the following 15 states, listed by the number of illnesses:

• Missouri (50)
• Indiana (8)
• Ohio (8)
• Illinois (7)
• Nebraska (3)
• Arizona (2)
• North Dakota (2)
• Wisconsin (2)
• Colorado (1)
• Kansas (1)
• Kentucky (1)
• Montana (1)
• Pennsylvania (1)
• South Dakota (1)
• Tennessee (1)

There were 36 hospitalizations, seven cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome—a serious kidney disease—and one death linked to the outbreak. The ages of the infected people ranged from 4 to 90 years old.

After conducting an investigation, the FDA concluded that contaminated romaine lettuce was the source of the outbreak. The agency also acknowledged a common grower of the lettuce but redacted the company’s name in the report.

The FDA concluded the investigation on Jan. 15, 2025, without issuing any public communications related to the outbreak, according to a letter to state health departments obtained by NBC News.

The FDA did list the E. coli outbreak in their Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks table in February, but the agency did not issue a press release—which is the typical practice for serious food contamination.

An FDA spokesperson told Health that the agency did not notify the public about this E. coli outbreak because, by the time the FDA confirmed the source as romaine lettuce, the outbreak was already over, and there was no “actionable advice” for consumers.

Sarah Sorscher, JD, MPH, director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told Health that this is not unusual.

“FDA and CDC only choose to warn the public when they have actionable information,” she explained. “They’ve decided not to put out a public statement because, essentially, the lettuce is already in the trash.”

However, food safety advocates disagree with this policy, stressing that consumers have a right to know about contaminated food, even if it is no longer a public health threat.

“From a consumer perspective, you want to know that information because you want there to be some heat on that grower to change their food safety practices,” Sorscher said.

The FDA spokesperson said the agency redacted the name of the contaminated lettuce grower because it’s considered “confidential commercial information” that cannot be disclosed under the Trade Secrets Act.

However, several victims of the E. coli outbreak accused Taylor Farms of producing the contaminated lettuce in nine separate lawsuits, NBC News reported. The large, California-based grower denies this claim.

“Taylor Farms product WAS NOT the source of the referenced 2024 E. Coli outbreak,” the company said in a statement to Health. “We perform extensive raw and finished product testing on all our product and there was no evidence of contamination.”

While the FDA spokesperson said the agency’s actions are consistent with its long-standing policy, some food safety experts say they would’ve expected the agency to publicize this deadly outbreak.

“They’ve always taken the issue of food safety very seriously,” Lewis Ziska, PhD, associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, who worked at the USDA for more than 20 years, told Health. “To not announce it is antithetical to everything I know about their past history.”

With recent staffing cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, food safety experts are also “very concerned” about the FDA’s capacity to investigate and inform the public about outbreaks of foodborne illness.

The federal food investigation team is largely intact, but Sorscher said previous cuts to government grants have already reduced the “boots on the ground” investigating outbreaks at the state level.

The HHS has now nearly eliminated the FDA’s communications team, which publicizes these outbreaks, and the FOIA department, which handles requests under the Freedom of Information Act. “It’s the exact opposite of radical transparency,” Sorscher said. “It’s definitely moving in the wrong direction.”

The FDA spokesperson assured that the agency continues to communicate critical information to consumers related to foodborne outbreaks, citing recall alerts and the Outbreak Investigation Table. But food safety experts are still skeptical about the future.

“If you look at the larger infrastructure of food safety at the FDA, it’s been significantly weakened,” Eskin said.

Even if the FDA does not notify the public about contaminated food, experts said there are still everyday steps you can take to prevent foodborne illness, including:

• Washing surfaces and your hands often while cooking.
• Separating raw meats, fish, and poultry from other ingredients to avoid cross-contamination.
• Cooking meats to proper temperatures, as checked with a food thermometer.
• Refrigerating perishable food and leftovers within two hours.

When it comes to leafy greens—which account for over 2 million foodborne illnesses in the U.S. each year—Sorscher also recommends looking for signs of rot and moisture, which can breed E. coli.

You can also regularly monitor for common symptoms of foodborne illness, such as diarrhea, stomach pain, vomiting, and fever. Seek medical attention if your symptoms last for more than two days.

Despite these tips to reduce your risk, experts agreed that government oversight is still essential to prevent pathogens from infecting our food.

“The public has no backup option when it comes to solving outbreaks,” Sorscher said. “There’s only so much you can do with food safety practices at home. We really need a system that protects us, and that’s what we’re on the cusp of losing here.”