About 22,000 cartons of romaine lettuce, distributed by Tanimura & Antle Inc. of Salinas, Calif. were recalled today because they might be contaminated with salmonella, according to reports from the Associated Press.

The cartons of bulk or wrapped romaine are marked with the lot code 531380 and were harvested June 25-July 2. They were sold to retail, wholesale and food service outlets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. (See the company's press release to see if your state is one of the 29 to which it was shipped.)

"This latest recall underlines how urgently we need Congress to pass the Food Safety Enhancement Act, which is awaiting a floor vote in the House,"  said Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union. "Almost every week brings a new food recall.  The FSEA will require FDA to take steps to prevent problems like this before they happen, like requiring produce growers to follow food safety standards.  Recalls like this are expensive to the industry, and there is a risk that not everyone will get the message and that the lettuce may make people sick.  We need the House to pass the food safety bill before the August recess."

The recalls that have been made so far this summer—nonfat dry milk, beef, cookie dough, alfalfa sprouts —only underscore that point. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that there are 76 million cases of foodborne illness annually leading to 5,000 deaths.

Most persons infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. The elderly, infants and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.