Romaine Lettuce Recall May Affect Colo.

Church Brothers, the owner of True Leaf Farms, is voluntarily recalling nearly 2,500 cartons of shredded or chopped romaine lettuce.

The lettuce was sold to food distributors in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. In those states, consumers could directly buy the lettuce.

According to Church Brothers, the lettuce may also have been shipped to 19 other states and Canada. Those states are Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont.

The affected lettuce may be contaminated with listeria. That is the same bacteria blamed for a multi-state outbreak linked to cantaloupe grown at Jensen Farms in Colorado.

Steve Church, the CEO of Church Brothers, said the company voluntarily recalled the lettuce at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after a sample from one bag tested positive for listeria.

The lettuce that is being recalled was packaged in True Leaf Farms cardboard cartons. All bags have a “use by date” of Sept. 29, 2011.

The bag and box code is: B256-46438-8.

Health officials urge customers to throw away any lettuce that is part of this recall. They say it is not safe to wash and eat.

County and state health officials say they will continue to investigate this recall.

To view the Church Brothers’ news release, click here.