E. coli Lettuce Recalls Video - Short 2/11/2026
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Source Document: E. coli Lettuce Recalls Video
Grow Space Vertical Farms · February 2025
Final Script (V3)
What actually causes lettuce recalls?
I grow lettuce for a living, and the lettuce production system causes some serious problems.
Over 90% of lettuce in the United States comes from just two places — California and Arizona.
This region is also home to cattle farms.
Runoff and dust from nearby cattle feedlots contaminate the irrigation water and the crops themselves.
This doesn't always cause an outbreak, but once contamination is discovered it is normally too late — that lettuce is already across the country, mixed in with clean greens.
So the next time there is a lettuce recall, realize it isn't a lettuce problem, but a system problem.
This is how E. coli outbreaks happen, but Listeria is a different story we will talk about tomorrow.
Sources by Claim
Over 90% of lettuce comes from California and Arizona
USDA Economic Research Service
California produces ~70% and Arizona ~25–30% of US lettuce. 85% of lettuce available for consumption was produced domestically in 2022. Link →
CDFA / CA Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement
Combined California and Arizona produce approximately 95% of US leafy green crops. Link →
UC Davis Rural Migration Blog
California 70%, Arizona 30% of US lettuce production (2019 data). Link →
Cattle feedlot runoff and dust contaminate lettuce irrigation and crops
NPR (Aug 2018)
FDA traced 2018 romaine E. coli outbreak to a ~100,000-head cattle feedlot near Yuma, AZ. E. coli from manure likely washed or blew into an irrigation canal that supplied 23 farms. Link →
Environmental Working Group (Jan 2024)
McElhaney Feedyard (350 acres, ~115,000 cattle/year) in Yuma County. FDA found the exact outbreak E. coli strain in an irrigation canal near the feedlot. Two confirmed contamination pathways: water runoff and airborne dust. Link →
Pew Charitable Trusts (Jul 2020)
FDA confirmed cattle as "most likely contributing factor" in three 2019 Salinas Valley romaine outbreaks. Even small herds (not just large CAFOs) pose contamination risks for nearby produce. Link →
Berry et al. (2015) — Applied & Environmental Microbiology
Peer-reviewed study: total E. coli recovered from air samples at feedlot edge and all plot distances (60m, 120m, 180m), confirming airborne transport. Current 400-ft setback guidelines may be inadequate. Link →
CDC / PMC (2022) — Epidemiology & Infection
A reoccurring STEC O157 strain caused two multistate outbreaks linked to romaine in 2018 and 2019, resulting in 234 illnesses across 33 states. Both traced to CA/AZ growing regions with cattle as suspected contributing factor. Link →
Contaminated lettuce ships nationwide before detection
The Counter (May 2020)
Nov 2019 outbreak sickened 167 people, hospitalized 87. CDC issued advisory days before Thanksgiving — product already distributed nationally. Centralized processing means one contamination event in one field ripples across the country. Link →
Croptracker (2020)
Three E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in Nov–Dec 2019 resulted in ~200 documented illnesses. A common grower with multiple ranches was identified as source across all three. Product had already shipped before contamination was confirmed. Link →
Food Safety News (Feb 2025)
FDA quietly closed investigation into 89-person romaine E. coli outbreak (Dec 2024). Product was past shelf life and already consumed before investigation concluded. Link →
Leafy greens are among the most common sources of E. coli outbreaks
CDC IFSAC Report (Jan 2025)
Over 85% of E. coli O157 illnesses attributed to vegetable row crops (primarily leafy greens) and beef. Based on analysis of 1,355 outbreaks from 1998–2022. Link →
Consumer Reports (2023)
78 foodborne disease outbreaks linked to leafy greens (mainly lettuce) between 2014–2021 per CDC data. Notes hydroponic/greenhouse lettuce is less likely to be contaminated by animal droppings. Link →