Sunday, November 25, 2018

No tainted romaine lettuce in Indonesia, ministry assures


Bali & World News & Views- Editor's comments:

I must say while I was travelling to Malaysia this weekend I was wondering if the Romaine lettuce that was on the buffet at the hotel was safe. 

I assume that most romaine lettuce in most of Asia is safe as most lettuce would be grown locally. So I will eat romaine lettuce with confidence.

News Desk- The Jakarta Post - Jakarta | Sat, November 24, 2018 | 03:59 pm


The Agriculture Ministry has guaranteed the public that Indonesia is free from E-Coli-tainted romaine lettuce, which was recently discovered in the United States. (Getty Images via Bloomberg/Justine Sullivan)
The Agriculture Ministry has guaranteed the public that Indonesia is free from E-Coli-tainted romaine lettuce, which was recently discovered in the United States.

Banun Harpini, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Quarantine Agency, said in Jakarta on Friday that the tainted lettuce had not entered the Indonesian market.

“I have instructed the Quarantine Agency to strengthen its supervision to assure that the commodity won’t enter Indonesia. If the commodity enters Indonesia, we have to reject it,” said Banun as reported by tribunnews.com.

According to USA Today, the US Food and Drug Agency was investigating an E-Coli outbreak that has affected 32 people in 11 states. The news comes months after an unrelated E-Coli outbreak connected to romaine lettuce.

Banum said Indonesia did not import romaine lettuce from the US and Canada, but exported the vegetable to Singapore and Malaysia.

Nevertheless, he said the Quarantine Agency would remain alert for the possible entry of the commodity, particularly through Indonesians who were returning home from the US and Canada and had taken romaine lettuce with them. (bbn)

Topics :
romaine-lettuce, E-Coli, outbreak, USA, AgricultureMinistry

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