Image by Getty / FuturismDevelopmentsThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quietly opened and closed an investigation into an outbreak of a particularly virulent strain of Escherichia coli, better known as the deadly bacteria E. coli — and never revealed the investigation to the public.As NBC News reports, the 89 people sickened from the outbreak last November ranged in age from four to 90, and were spread across at least 15 states and killed at least one person. The FDA, subsequently, investigated the outbreakIn lawsuits filed by families affected by the outbreak, the California-based bagged salad giant Taylor Farms was named as the source of the E. coli-tainted lettuce, but the FDA under Donald Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., refuse to do the same.In statements to the outlet, Taylor Farms insisted that third-party investigations had cleared it of any responsibility. Just a few weeks before the lettuce-derived outbreak began, however, the same company voluntarily recalled yellow onions it had grown that were linked to a separate rash of E. coli infections that sickened more than 100 people and killed one.As with Taylor Farms, the FDA has also issued some very mixed messaging about the November E. coli outbreak.In an internal document obtained by NBC, the FDA appeared to pinpoint the farm that grew the lettuce and the brand that sold it, but those names, as well as other information, have been redacted. In a statement to the news outlet, a spokesperson said those names were not disclosed because it had already ended by the time the source of the outbreak was confirmed — but in a separate comment to Albany's 13News, another FDA representative claimed that the lack of disclosure was to protect "trade secrets."Beyond the obfuscation and politicking, this outbreak — which involved a dangerous strain known as 0157:H7, which can cause organ damage, long-term illness, and even death — seems to really have freaked out the people tasked with handling it.In Missouri, St. Louis County senior epidemiologist Amanda Brzozowski told NBC that as soon as the cases in the November outbreak began coming in, she knew it was no normal rash of foodborne illness. High schoolers who all lived in the same area of the county were the first infected, and food from a local catering company was ultimately identified as the likely origin. Ominously, the kids who got it became incredibly sick, incredibly fast.From bloody diarrhea to and severe stomach cramping to dehydration and vomiting, the illness the epidemiologist had on her hands was, as she put it, "really scary.""This type of situation we’ve never seen before," Brzozowski said.Using genetic sequencing technology and other health information about people infected, federal investigators determined that those who fell ill did so after eating romaine lettuce — and that the lettuce had come from a "sole processor."When it came to naming that source, however, the FDA remained mum until the parents of 10-year-old Colton George, one of the victims of the outbreak who nearly died from his infection, filed a records request with the agency to get the unredacted information.In the wake of this E. coli news, FDA insiders told CBS News that the agency plans to stop doing its routine food and drug safety inspections entirely. Though HHS denied that claim through a spokesperson, even the suggestion of such a thing portends poorly for food safety in this country — especially at an agency intent on protecting the anonymity of an allegedly disease-spreading company.Share This Article