THE salmonella outbreak has spread, with Lite n’ Easy warning customers not to eat its salad and 7-Eleven recalling some sandwiches.

Lite n’ Easy uses the same lettuce supplier — Victorian company Tripod Farmers — linked with a salmonella outbreak that has so far infected 28 people, including at least one child.

It warned customers that the lettuce recall would affect some lunches in its menu delivered this week. It has dumped the lettuce supplier following the recall.

“Whilst we have had no related reports of illness to date, we recommend that, if you have already consumed the lunch and have any concerns regarding your health, you should consult with your doctor or medical practitioner,” the Lite n’ Easy notice reads.

There are also reports that sandwiches sold at 7-Eleven have been recalled, and that the affected lettuce was used in souvlaki and burgers made at a Victorian school canteen.

It may look clean, packaged and pristine, but prewashed bags of lettuce or vegetables can carry their own hidden danger.

While it is rare for salmonella to occur in fruit and vegetables, Lydia Buchtmann from the Australian Food Safety Information Council told news.com.au there could be three reasons behind the outbreak.

Last night the supermarket giants were forced to issue a recall over Coles 4 Leaf Mix, Woolworths salad mix, SupaSalad Supamix and Wash N Toss salad mix.

“For salad to have the bacteria, the water used during growing might’ve been contaminated,” she said. “Another reason is the water in the washing process could be contaminated. There is also the possibility that someone who has handled the food could have had salmonella.”

She also said there wasn’t much point in rewashing pre-packaged salads.

“Washing the salad with your own water isn’t enough to get rid of the bacteria,” she said. “Although it might get rid of some traces — it’s not worth it.

“Salmonella is an unusual bacteria, as it can take 72 hours or even longer to come out through symptoms.”

The lettuce in question was grown and distributed by the Victorian company Tripod Farmers who are currently working with health authorities to determine how the outbreak occurred.

The outbreak sparked the voluntary recall of at least 20 products at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets nationwide. All these products have best before dates leading up to and including February 14, and the full list is below.

The 28 cases, so far reported, are from Victoria. But the Department of Health is bracing for an onslaught of calls from worried salad lovers and warn it could be the “tip of the iceberg”.

Since Tripod Farmers products are distributed nationally, it is expected cases will occur in other states.

Rob McKibbin from Adelaide told the Herald Sun about the moment he passed out and thought he was about to die after contracting salmonella.

It is not yet officially confirmed whether his illness was related to the salad products, but he said he fell violently ill after eating Woolworths Select Salad Mix on Sunday, January 31.

“The first seven days was just a blur. The entire week was a blur — absolute agony every 10-15 minutes the cramping would come back waves of pain, and then running to the toilet,” he said.

Symptoms of salmonellosis usually occur between six and 72 hours after ingesting the bacteria, with the most common being diarrhoea (which may contain blood or mucous), fever, headache, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, and dehydration, especially among infants and the elderly.

In rare cases, septicaemia (local infection) may develop as a complication of salmonellosis.

Food safety Australia and New Zealand spokeswoman Lorraine Haase told news.com.au a salmonella outbreak of this kind was almost unheard of in Australia, which had excellent quality assurance and distribution practices when it came to food handling.

Ms Haase said people were just as likely to get salmonella from a normal head of lettuce as they were from prepackaged leaves.

However, she did say prepackaged food was handled more during the package and washing process although stressed it was too early to say if this was how the infection was spread.

“This is an extremely rare occurrence,” she said, adding she hadn’t heard of such a case in recent years. “Even with the best quality controls and assurances, this can happen.”

Another food poisoning expert warned against buying prewashed or precut fruit and vegetables as the more a food is handled and processed, the more it’s likely to attract bacteria.

“I avoid these like the plague,” said Bill Marler, a managing partner of Marler Clark, known as the “Food Safety Law Firm”.

“We’ve gotten so used to the convenience of mass-produced food — bagged salad and boxed salads and precut this and precut that.

“Convenience is great but sometimes I think it isn’t worth the risk.”

Mr Marler told the Food Poisoning Journal that he buys unwashed, uncut produce in small amounts and eats it within three to four days to reduce the risk for listeria, a deadly bug that grows at refrigerator temps.

Ms Buchtmann said salmonella was more common in meat, poultry and eggs, but it had occurred in fruit and vegetables in the past.

“It has been linked to melons in the past during the irrigation process, and it’s often hard to tell exactly what has caused it,” she said.

“Our advice is to take the product back to the shop where they purchased it immediately. If they are sick, a child or an elderly person, please check with a doctor, because dehydration can occur very quickly.”

With almost a third of Australians consuming pre-packaged lettuce daily during summer months, health authorities fear the toll from the outbreak could rise significantly.

Anyone who has become sick within six to 72 hours of eating a ready-bagged lettuce product should seek medical advice and have a stool test to determine if they have been infected with salmonella.

Health officials and Moorabool Shire Council workers had gone to the farm to investigate and oversee a clean-up.

“We don’t yet have a clear explanation of the contamination event may have occurred,” the Herald Sun reported.

“But, as a precaution, a full clean up the factory has been undertaken.”

Tripod Farmers did not return requests for comment prior to publication.

FULL LIST OF RECALLED PRODUCTS

Woolworths Spinach 100gm

Woolworths Rocket 100gm

Woolworths Salad Mix 100gm

Wash N Toss Watercress 100gm

Wash N Toss Sorrell 50gm

Wash N Toss Baby Cos 100gm

Wash N Toss Spinach 100gm

Wash N Toss Salad Mix 100gm

Wash N Toss Rocket 100gm

Wash N Toss Kale 100gm

Coles Spinach 60gm

Coles Rocket 60gm

Coles Rocket 120gm

Coles Spinach and Rocket 120gm

Coles Spinach 120gm

Coles 4Leaf 120gm

Coles 4Leaf 200gm

SupaSalad 180gm

SupaSalad Green Coral 180gm

SupaSalad Supamix 1kg

SupaSalad Spinach 1kg

SupaSalad Rocket 1kg

SupaSalad Baby Cos 1kg

SupaSalad Spinach 180kg

ncG1vNJzZmimlazAb6%2FOpmWarV%2Bhtqex0q2wpZ1fnbKiuNOhZqGdkaHBqXnPq6abpJWiwHC4xK2rrpuVYr%2Bmr8Clo2aZpGKwsLjErGSwp5%2BhxLC%2B06GqZq%2BYrnq4sYysn6itnJl6osLOoptmqKKavaKvypqenpxdnL%2Bmsc2sZqedp6h6tMDOq7BonWSZsHSwwZtom3BpmrOmfsOaZ3Jwkm6CeILFaWyeb5M%3D