Consumers no longer need to avoid romaine lettuce grown in certain areas.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that the multi-state outbreak of E. coli illnesses linked to romaine lettuce grown in California this fall appears to be over.
The FDA will continue to investigate the source of the E. coli; however, U.S. health officials said contaminated romaine that made people sick in this outbreak should no longer be available on the market.
From October to December, the E. coli outbreak sickened 62 people in 16 states. No one died, but 25 people were hospitalized. Illnesses also were reported in Canada, the Associated Press reported.