A Canadian expert in food distribution says he's surprised by how long it's taking for a recall to be issued after one death and dozens of illnesses attributed to E. coli-contaminated romaine lettuce.
Sylvain Charlebois, a researcher in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, says these kinds of outbreaks are particularly dangerous during the holiday season, when people generally do not watch what they eat.
Public health officials first warned of the E. coli outbreak early last week, saying 21 illnesses reported in three provinces were linked to romaine lettuce.
Since then, one death and 40 illnesses have been reported in five provinces.
Charlebois says it's unusual for an outbreak to last more than a week without a recall, suggesting better traceability systems for produce are needed to pinpoint the cause.
Charlebois says there is a growing interest in so-called blockchain systems for grocers in which all distributors share data digitally.