Why you can find romaine lettuce on Jacksonville store shelves during E. coli outbreak

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns people nationwide not to eat romaine lettuce, Jacksonville stores are still selling it on their shelves.

Many Action News Jax viewers have reached out, confused about what's safe to eat and what's not.

A Food & Drug Administration spokesman said there are no recalls on any particular brand of lettuce, so stores and restaurants can still sell it to you.

The CDC and FDA say the E. coli threat appears to only be from lettuce that was grown in the Yuma, Arizona region.

The CDC recommends, if you don’t know whether your romaine lettuce came from Yuma, just throw it out.

“So much for eating healthy,” said Jacksonville Winn-Dixie shopper Carly Eckert.

The Winn-Dixie on Beach Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff Road posted a sign by its romaine lettuce heads saying they are grown outside of the Yuma area.

“That’s always good to know. I’m glad that they’re letting the customers know that as well. I mean, because you just never know. They could be contaminated, they could be not. It’s just something you don’t want to mess with,” said Eckert.

It’s not always easy to tell where your lettuce was grown.

Several bags of mixed salad at a Jacksonville Publix were labeled “Distributed in Florida,” but did not say where the romaine lettuce was grown.

At a Jacksonville Aldi, another bag of mixed salad was labeled “Product of USA.” It did not specify where the romaine lettuce was grown.

All the bagged salad Action News Jax inspected at a Jacksonville Sam’s Club was labeled as being from California.

According to the CDC, more than 50 people have been infected in the E. coli outbreak in 16 states. So far, none of them have lived in Florida.

Cox Media Group