E. coli outbreak has Quebec restaurants pulling romaine lettuce

There's been no formal recall of romaine lettuce, but amid warnings of E. coli linked to the leafy green, some restaurant chains and small businesses in Quebec are taking no chances.

After some initial skepticismof the seriousness of the risk, the co-owner of Burger de Ville decided Thursday he would no longer serve the leafy green to his clients.

"I decided to pull it off, out of precaution for my customers, even though I didn't even see a dip in sales,"said Reda Wahba. "People kept ordering it."

Since November, two people have died and dozens of people have beensick inCanada and the U.S. due to an infection from E. coli 0157, which has been linked to romaine lettuce.

• Everything you need to know about the E. coli risk from romaine lettuce

A total of 41 cases of E. colipoisoninghave been detected inQuebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

As a result, the Public Health Agency of Canada issued a notice in December urging people in affected provinces to eatother kinds of lettuce.

While there is no formal recall, Wahba said he's not planning on serving romaine lettuce until there's some kind of indication from health authorities that the outbreak is over.

"You don't want to take any chances,"he said. "And you don't want to get any of your customers ill or worse."

Burger de Ville joins agrowing list of businesses that have opted to pull romaine lettuce from its shelves.

Cara Operations, the company that ownsQuebec-based Les RtisseriesSt-Hubert and many other chains, including Harvey's, Casey's and Kelsey's, asked its restaurants to stop serving romaine lettuce in late December as a precaution.

The Boston Pizza chain has also asked cooksin its Quebec, Ontario and Maritimes locations to replace the leafy green with other kinds of lettuce.

If you can't avoid it, cook it

While restaurants are taking precautions, some Quebecersdon'tplan on giving up romaine lettuce.

Antoine Fortier said he's been washing and soaking his romaine lettuce for longer periods of time as a precaution.

"We're not really worried about it," he said. "But, you know, wetake some measures to not have too many problems with it."

However, Lawrence Goodridge, the director of McGill University's food safety and quality program, said the practice of thoroughly washing infected lettuce won't make it safe for consumption.

"That is actually untrue, that is not the case," he said."Washing lettuce or any fresh produce that may be contaminated with bacteria is a not a way to ensure its safety."

"The number of bacteria that one must consume to become sick isso low and when you wash a lettuce or any fresh produce, you cannot wash away 100per cent of the bacteria."

Montrealersshould instead opt for different kinds of greens or,if youmust have romaine lettuce, cook it, he said.

"My recommendation would be that consumers not consumeromaine lettuce until this outbreak is over," he said.

• Stay safe and don't eat romaine, says P.E.I. chief public health officer