Romaine safe to eat at WDW?

[MouseMum]

Here in Canada, we are hearing all the warnings to not eat romaine lettuce if travelling to the US. One Canadian news email I receive regularly makes the warning not to eat romaine, with the addition "unless you can confirm it is not from the Yuma growing region of western Arizona". DOes anyone know if there has been any confirmation by Disney that their romaine is safe, have they discontinued serving it for a while, or if it is confirmed, can anyone please site that confirmation? Unless I see it writing, there will be none for DD15 and I next month. Too bad, especially for her, since she's a vegetarian and would be relying on salads for many meals.

 

[peteykirch]

It's Disney, they are well aware of the issue and haven't been sourcing romaine lettuce from Yuma as soon as the outbreak was made public.

The latest news release from the CDC posted on Wednesday said that the "last shipments of romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region were harvested on April 16, 2018 and the harvest season is over. It is unlikely that any romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region is still available in stores or restaurants due to its 21-day shelf life."

 

[Huff]

I live in AZ where the suspect lettuce came from. As prior poster stated, the growing season is long over. When the outbreak occurred they issued a recall of all suspected lettuce. Anything that wasn't tossed out back then is long past its shelf life and would have been tossed anyways. This time of year most veggies come from south America or elsewhere.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Yeah, I’m from Arizona too. We avoided it for a while but once the growing season was over and shelf life expired we went back to eating it. They are still reporting illlness and deaths only because they weren’t diagnosed or weren’t reported immediately. Not because it’s still happening.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/Safe-to-Eat-Romaine-Lettuce-CDC-482923391.html?amp=y

The Centers for Disease Control has stated lettuce is safe to eat again. The contaminated lettuce is all off the market.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

Romaine is also grown in Florida, so there's probably a good chance Disney was getting it from a FL grower during the time of the recall. I managed a produce dept up until recently, and during the Yuma, AZ recall, all of our loose romaine (not prepackaged) was coming from Florida. The Fl growing season is most certainly done now though, and the season is moving north. I'm going to wager a guess that Disney uses a Sterilox type system on their fresh lettuces as a precaution against E. coli and Salmonella. It's a daily practice in many grocery stores which involves soaking certain types of produce for a short period of time in a saline solution. While that won't prevent all outbreaks of E. coli, and couldn't have prevented the AZ outbreak, it does help to protect the consumer.

 

[scrapquitler]

Here in Canada, we are hearing all the warnings to not eat romaine lettuce if travelling to the US. One Canadian news email I receive regularly makes the warning not to eat romaine, with the addition "unless you can confirm it is not from the Yuma growing region of western Arizona". DOes anyone know if there has been any confirmation by Disney that their romaine is safe, have they discontinued serving it for a while, or if it is confirmed, can anyone please site that confirmation? Unless I see it writing, there will be none for DD15 and I next month. Too bad, especially for her, since she's a vegetarian and would be relying on salads for many meals.

I'm certain that Disney is aware of the romaine lettuce problem and wouldn't be serving it if their lettuce came from the Yuma area.

In my area, when the news originally broke, all the grocery stores and restaurants stopped serving romaine. They are all back to stocking it, so I'm sure that they have found new suppliers or something.

 

[MouseMum]

Thanks for all of your responses!

Feeling better in Canada

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I have not heard of any illness at Disney World other than folks here claiming food poisoning occasionally.

 

[North of Mouse]

Just finished a great Romaine lettuce salad. The store where I buy keeps a sign by their salad fixings - no lettuce from that part of the country. I feel very safe eating anything they sell - they are on top of what is happening and would be the first to opt out of anything suspicious. Disney would be totally aware and conscientious of their suppliers. I would not worry in the least.

 

[North of Mouse]

I have not heard of any illness at Disney World other than folks here claiming food poisoning occasionally.

'Claiming' is so right! Eating something that does not agree with you and causing digestive distress for awhile is 'not' food poisoning! I had food poisoning from fried oysters many years ago - was sick from the minute I got up from the table (at restaurant), lost 10 lbs in one week, and was at the Drs. 3 times, and was close to being admitted to hospital. High fevers, but I was in my mid 20's and healthy, so was able to ride it through.

 

[Dean Marino]

It's Disney, they are well aware of the issue and haven't been sourcing romaine lettuce from Yuma as soon as the outbreak was made public.

Yup.... and worth noting? If worried, ask your Server where that lettuce comes from. We did this in APR 2018, always got an answer, and also found out that WDW does routine batch sampling of incoming raw food. NOT just lettuce. I can only guess "liability issues" are why WDW does not brag about this....

 

[B-Ride]

The last thing Disney wants is sick guests. First customer service is really number one with them and second they don't want you not spending money.

 

[Dean Marino]

The last thing Disney wants is sick guests. First customer service is really number one with them and second they don't want you not spending money.

Semi-cold note?
People scream "food poisoning" a LOT - some bring Lawyers. Folks, 99.9% of the time, that "food poisoning" is handrail snot .
WDW can not CLEAN all those public surfaces fast enough to kill everything.... SERIOUS hand sanitizer, and the habit of USING it, is really important. Not just in the Parks - on those sparkling clean AIRPLANES .

 

[B-Ride]

Semi-cold note?
People scream "food poisoning" a LOT - some bring Lawyers. Folks, 99.9% of the time, that "food poisoning" is handrail snot .
WDW can not CLEAN all those public surfaces fast enough to kill everything.... SERIOUS hand sanitizer, and the habit of USING it, is really important. Not just in the Parks - on those sparkling clean AIRPLANES .

I agree with you 100%. People who constantly claim food poisoning seem to have forgotten about the flu. Food poisoning does exist but in a place serving so many people it is far more likely to be the flu. And with the number of people eating in the same places an outbreak of food poisoning would affect many more people.

Please note this is just my opinion. I am in no way an expert.

 

[bumbershoot]

'Claiming' is so right! Eating something that does not agree with you and causing digestive distress for awhile is 'not' food poisoning! I had food poisoning from fried oysters many years ago - was sick from the minute I got up from the table (at restaurant), lost 10 lbs in one week, and was at the Drs. 3 times, and was close to being admitted to hospital. High fevers, but I was in my mid 20's and healthy, so was able to ride it through.

Except that people who have taken food and safety classes say that food poisoning is in no way that fast.

But it can all feel the same at first.

Here in my town a small chain of restaurants keep getting closed temporarily bc of norovirus. That’s not good poisoning, but it’s a problem in who is handling your food (or glasses dishware silverware credit cards etc) combined with people not washing hands. Alas it’s a Mexican chain where the chips and salsa cause you to have no choice but to eat with your hands...

Anyway, it can look the same at the beginning!

People who constantly claim food poisoning seem to have forgotten about the flu.

Eek. “Flu” has nothing to do with belly sickness.

InFLUenza is a respiratory illness.

The so-called “stomach flu” is not flu. It’s generally norovirus.

Let’s stop using “flu” to describe non-respiratory belly problems.

 

[North of Mouse]

Except that people who have taken food and safety classes say that food poisoning is in no way that fast.



Eek. “Flu” has nothing to do with belly sickness.

InFLUenza is a respiratory illness.

The so-called “stomach flu” is not flu. It’s generally norovirus.

Let’s stop using “flu” to describe non-respiratory belly problems.

Not going to argue the point, but will take my Drs word for what happened to me - that yes, it was that quick, and I was one very sick person - was in no condition to really care what it was called.

As for a lot of people's 'flu' claims, I agree!
Don't know how many people I've heard just this past winter saying they had the flu, but only needed one day off work, then they were ok. I've had the flu a few times and I guarantee a couple days didn't get it! Really sick for about a week, then another week to get some strength back.

 

[Dean Marino]

Just a personal note?

Two weeks ago, siting in my Home, I got a fairly NASTY shot of "food poisoning". I was no where NEAR
WDW. My dear wife was screaming "It's my fault" .

Nope . Even in our homes? FAR from WDW? We blame bad food for everything.

I could have done anything from picking at my teeth, just after working in the Garden, to being a LITTLE too close to a stranger in a Supermarket....
"Food Poisoning" has become America's whipping boy. One can get sick, in public, thousands of ways. "Food poisoning" likely accounts for about 3 of those 1000 methods .

WDW does a GREAT job protecting us (as they can) from the abject failure of the US National System that promises to protect us from bad food.

1) The Romaine lettuce fright of 2018.
2) "choped fruit" 2018.

That's TWO, this year. Bet we get more - and I'm REALLY glad I don't have to be on the WDW staff stuck with 2nd level food safety screening .
These folks are likely getting screwed - doing the BEST they can to make up for a very flawed US inspection system.

All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

 

[B-Ride]

Eek. “Flu” has nothing to do with belly sickness.

I stand corrected and will not use blame it on the flu. I must admit I have had bad cases of the flu and it is more about muscle aches etc and last more than a day.

I still think food poisoning is blamed too often.