Table 1.
Examples of foodborne disease outbreaks linked to leafy vegetables from 2000 onwards, starting with the most recent.
| Year | Country | Product/crop | Pathogen | Isolation from implicated food | Cases (deaths) | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | U.K. | Salad mix | E. coli O157 | No | 161 (2) | Public Health England (PHE), 2016 |
| 2015/2016 | U.S. | Ready-to-eat salad mix | L. monocytogenes | Yes | 19 (1) | CDC, 2016; Self et al., 2016 |
| 2015 | U.K. | Pre-packed salad | E. coli O157 | No | 38 | Public Health England (PHE), 2015 |
| 2014 | Norway | Salad mix (probably radicchio rosso as it has a longer shelf-life than other ingredients in salad mix) | Y. enterocolitica O:9 | No | 133 | MacDonald et al., 2016 |
| 2013/2014 | Norway | RTE salad mix (imported rocket, baby spinach and red rhubarb, washed and bagged in Norway) | Salmonella Coeln (Salmonella enterica spp. enterica) | No | 26 | Vestrheim et al., 2016 |
| 2013 | U.S. | Romaine lettuce (from Mexico) | Cyclospora | No | 631 | Buss et al., 2016a,b |
| 2013 | Sweden | Mixed green salad served at restaurant | E. coli O157 | No | 19 | Edelstein et al., 2014 |
| 2012/2013 | Canada | Lettuce served at fast food chains | E. coli O157 | No | 31 | Tataryn et al., 2014 |
| 2012 | Finland | Frisée salad from Netherlands | Cryptosporidium parvum | No | >250 | Åberg et al., 2015 |
| 2012 | U.K. | Pre-cut mixed salad (including leaves from growers in the UK, Spain, Italy and France) | Cryptosporidium parvum | No | >300 | McKerr et al., 2015 |
| 2012 | U.S. | Bagged salad (romaine, iceberg lettuce, cabbage, carrots) | E. coli O157 | No | 17 (2) | Marder et al., 2014 |
| 2012 | U.S. | Pre-packed organic spinach and salad mix | E. coli O157 | Yes | 33 | CDC, 2012b |
| 2011 | Norway | Salad mix containing radicchio rosso | Y. enterocolitica O:9 | No | 21 | MacDonald et al., 2011 |
| 2011 | U.S. | Romaine lettuce | E. coli O157 | No | 58 | CDC, 2012a; Slayton et al., 2013 |
| 2010 | U.S. | Romaine lettuce (shredded) | E. coli O145 | Yes | 27 | CDC, 2010; Taylor et al., 2013 |
| 2010 | Denmark | Lollo bionda lettuce (from France) | Entero-toxigenic Escherichia coli | Yes | 260 | Ethelberg et al., 2010 |
| 2008 | Finland | Ready-to-eat iceberg lettuce imported from Central Europe | Salmonella Newport/Reading | No | 107 (2) | Lienemann et al., 2011 |
| 2007 | Sweden | Baby spinach (imported) | Salmonella. Paratyphi B variant Java (Salmonella Java) | No | 172a | Denny et al., 2007 |
| 2006 | U.S. | Spinach | E. coli O157 | Yes | 191 (5) | CDC, 2006; Grant et al., 2008 |
| 2005 | Sweden | Iceberg lettuce | E. coli O157 | No | 135 | Söderström et al., 2008 |
| 2005 | Finland | Iceberg lettuce (from Spain) | Salmonella Typhimurium DT 104B | Yes | 60 | Takkinen et al., 2005 |
| 2005 | U.K. | Iceberg lettuce | Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 | No | 96 | HPA, 2005a,b |
| 2004 | U.K. | Lettuce | Salmonella Newport | No | >360 | Gillespie, 2004; HPA, 2004; Irvine et al., 2009 |
| 2004 | Denmark, Norway, Sweden | Rocket (from Italy) | Salmonella Thompson | Yes | 100 | Nygård et al., 2008 |
| 2003 | U.K. | Iceberg lettuce (from Spain) | Salmonella Braenderup | Yes | 29 | Gajraj et al., 2012 |
| 2000 | U.K. | Lettuce | Salmonella Typhimurium DT 104 | No | 361 | Horby et al., 2003 |
| 2000 | Iceland, U.K., Netherlands, Germany | Lettuce | Salmonella Typhimurium DT204b | No | 392 | Crook et al., 2003 |
a
Cases also in UK and Denmark.